FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON.   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY   HIM  TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


DMsioii     3<SS> 


Section 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://archive.org/details/musicOOcorn 


MUSI 


AS  IT  WAS,   AND  AS  IT  IS 


BY 


N.  E.  CORNWALL,  M.  A., 

HECTOR  OF   TRINITY  CHURCH,  FAIRFIELD,   CONN. 


"  I  say  these  things,  not  that  ye  only  may  sing  praises  ;  but  that  ye  may  teach 
yonr  wives  and  children  to  sing  such  songs,  not  only  in  weaving  and  in  other  work, 
but  especially  at  table." — Chrysostom  on  Ps.  xli. 


NEW-YORK: 
D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY,  200  BROADWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA  \ 
GEO.  S.  APPLETON,  164  CHESNUT-STREET. 

1851. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1850,  by 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 


TO   THE   MEMORY   OP 

AUGUSTUS   FOSTER  LYDE; 

REMOVED   BY   HEAVENLY   WISDOM 

FROM  THE   THRESHOLD  OF  A  STAGE  OF  USEFULNESS, 

ON   WHICH   HIS   CULTIVATED   MIND, 

ARDENT  DEVOTION,  AND  FINE  TASTE, 

GAVE   PROMISE   OF 

A   BRILLIANT   AND   SUCCESSFUL   CAREER; 

As  a  Slight  Tribute 

TO    THE   NOBLE    EXAMPLE 

OF   A   MUCH  LAMENTED   COMPANION   IN   THEOLOGICAL    STUDY, 

AND   ITS   APPROPRIATE   RECREATIONS, 

INTELLECTUAL,    SOCIAL,   AND    SPIRITUAL, 

Ejus  3Lfttle  Uolumc 

IS    AFFECTIONATELY    INSCRIBED.  / 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction, 1 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  Past  Progress  of  Music, 4 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Present  State  of  Music, 46 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  True  Standard  of  Modern  Music, 64 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Proper  Style  of  Sacred  Music, 82 

CHAPTER   V. 
The  Due  Performance  of  Sacred  Music, 126 

Conclusion, 134 


PREFACE 


This  little  volume  on  Music,  is  designed  for  masters,  amateurs^ 
and  learners.  It  has  been  prepared  and  published  at  the  request 
and  solicitation  of  many  persons,  among  whom  are  some  of  each 
of  these  classes.  Adapted,  at  least  in  the  intention  of  the  author, 
to  open  to  the  comprehension  of  all  readers  some  of  the  leading 
principles  of  good  taste  in  modern  music,  it  is  respectfully  com- 
mended to  the  good-will  of  all  lovers  and  promoters  of  this 
delightful  art  and  elevating  science. 

Music,  considered  merely  as  a  subject  for  the  pen  of  the  histo- 
rian and  the  philosopher,  has  been  long  honored  with  the  rank  of 
an  important  department  in  complete  libraries.  English  literature, 
as  well  as  that  of  several  nations  on  the  Continent,  has  been, 
within  a  century  past,  largely  enriched  with  voluminous  works 
on  the  history  and  theory  of  music  in  all  its  various  relations. 
But  such  works  as  the  nine  huge  quartos  of  Hawkins  and  Burney, 
inaccessible  indeed  to  the  mass  of  readers  in  this  country,  contain 
much  that  is  quite  unintelligible  to  persons  unacquainted  with  the 
science,  and  unskilled  in  the  practice  of  music.  A  large  propor- 
tion of  matter,  equally  useless  to  such,  is  found  also  in  some  of 
the  elaborate  articles  which  have  been  compiled,  mostly  from  those 
works,  for  the  pages  of  Encyclopaedias.  And  in  some  treatises 
on  music,  which  have  justly  obtained  an  extensive  circulation,  on 
account  of  their  general  merit — for  instance,  the  entertaining 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

works  of  Latrobe,  Higgins,  and  Gardiner— even  the  occasional 
mistakes  of  Burney  and  Hawkins  with  regard  to  ancient  music, 
have  been  frequently  transcribed,  along  with  the  valuable  results 
of  their  successful  researches ;  and  thus  propagated  the  more 
widely  among  the  many,  who  must  at  all  events  take  much  upon 
this  subject  at  second-hand. 

With  such  facts  in  view  this  little  volume  has  been  prepared ; 
not  without  a  diligent  investigation  of  the  ancient  authorities  on 
which  some  of  its  statements  and  arguments  are  based,  and  an 
extensive  review  of  such  sources  of  original  information  upon 
this  subject  as  are  accessible  in  this  country.  And  in  the  discus- 
sion of  some  points,  the  author  has  been  materially  aided  by  the 
courtesy  and  counsel  of  gentlemen,  who  are  justly  eminent  for 
their  attainments  in  the  kindred  sciences  of  theology  and  music, 
and  in  all  that  pertains  to  accomplished  scholarship  and  fine  taste. 
To  this  acknowledgment  of  their  kind  attentions  he  would  gladly 
add  the  mention  of  their  names,  if  he  could  deem  it  proper  to 
require  them  thus  to  share  the  responsibility  of  his  productions. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  add,  that  the  title  adopted  by  the  author 
is  designed  rather  to  indicate  the  plan  of  his  argument,  as  mainly 
a  comparative  view  of  ancient  and  modern  music,  in  the  most 
prominent  characteristics  of  each,  than  to  intimate  its  compre- 
hensiveness with  regard  to  either.  With  these  remarks  he  cheer- 
fully submits  his  little  volume  to  the  judgment,  censures  and  sug- 
gestions, of  all  who  may  favor  it  with  attentive  perusal. 


INTRODUCTION. 

In  one  of  the  most  ancient  portions  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture it  is  declared,  that  when  the  Almighty  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  earth,  "  the  morning  stars  sang 
together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy."* 
And  the  most  glorious  visions  of  heavenly  things 
set  forth  upon  one  of  the  last  rolls  of  divine  revela- 
tion, represent  those  who,  redeemed  from  among 
men,  obtain  the  victory  of  faithful  servants  of  God, 
as  "harpers  harping  with  their  harps,  and  singing 
the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb."t 

These  familiar  descriptions,  with  others  of  simi- 
lar import  in  various  parts  of  sacred  writ,  plainly 
teach,  that  there  is,  in  the  eternal  employments  of 
holy  angels  and  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect, 
something  which  may  be  very  fitly  illustrated  by 
earthly  music,  considered  as  combining  the  sounds 
of  voices  and  instruments,  and  depending,  in  the 
highest  degree,  upon  fixed  principles  and  laws. 
Nor  is  any  farther  testimony  of  Holy  Scripture 
needed,  to  show  that  the  cultivation  oi  music  as  a 

*  Job  xxxviii.  7.  t  Rev.  xiv.  2.  xv.  3. 

1 


2  music   a srr> 

very  perfect  science,  and  the  practice  of  music  as  an 
important  art,  at  once  elegant  and  highly  useful,- 
are  intimately  connected  both  with  the  advancement 
of  mankind  in  civilization,  and  with  the  progress  of 
the  Church  of  God.  A  single  pertinent  illustration 
of  this  proposition,  however,  will  not  be  out  of  place 
here. 

The  importance  of  Ecclesiastical  Architecture, 
and  of  much  care  in  the  application  of  principles  of 
good  taste  to  the  noble  art  of  erecting  and  adorning 
edifices  for  the  public  worship  of  the  Almighty  is,  at 
the  present  time,  very  generally  admitted.  An  as- 
tonishing improvement  in  the  state  of  public  feeling 
with  regard  to  this  matter  constitutes  one  of  the  most 
striking  features  of  American  society  during  this 
second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  And 
whatever  might  be  said  as  to  the  prevailing  taste  in 
architecture  in  certain  communities,  the  general  in- 
terest now  manifested  in  the  advancement  of  that 
noble  art  is  very  commendable  and  encouraging. 
But  it  is  safe  to  assert,  that  a  similar  improvement 
in  public  feeling  with  regard  to  sacred  music,  and  a 
similar  interest  in  its  advancement  should  be  deemed 
even  more  desirable.  The  most  important  of  those 
results  of  the  progress  of  Christianity,  which,  in  the 
ways  of  Divine  wisdom  and  providence,  depend  in 
some  degree  upon  the  extension  of  true  science  and 
the  arts  of  civilized  life,  must,  from  the  very  nature 
of  things,  be  more  fully  attained  by  the  direct  wor- 
ship and  service  of  God  with  the  finest  faculties  of 
rational  beings,  than  by  any  indirect  symbolizing  of 
eligious  sentiment,  through  the  medium  of  inani- 


ARCHITECTURE.  3 

mate  structures  of  wood  and  stone.  Moreover,  mu- 
sic, whether  viewed  with  reference  to  its  scientific 
principles,  which  are  settled  upon  a  basis  most  cer- 
tain and  stable,  or  with  regard  to  its  claims  as  an 
art,  is  no  whit  inferior  to  architecture.  And  sacred 
music  is  more  generally  intelligible  and  appreciable, 
in  those  particulars  which  constitute  real  excellence 
of  style,  than  is  Ecclesiastical  Architecture. 

As,  then,  this  appropriate  illustration  of  the  im- 
portance of  sacred  music  suggests,  so  the  proposition 
sustained  by  it,  respecting  the  connection  of  sacred 
music  with  the  moral  improvement  of  mankind  and 
the  progress  of  society,  seems  to  require,  in  the  first 
place,  some  brief  notice  of  a  few  main  points  in  the 
history  of  music,  embracing  the  most  eventful  stages 
of  its  past  progress. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAST     PROGRESS     OF     MUSIC. 

Concerning  the  state  of  music,  either  sacred  or 
secular,  in  ancient  times,  little  can  be  said  with  cer- 
tainty. It  doubtless  held,  in  some  of  the  most  cele- 
brated of  ancient  nations,  the  rank  of  a  very  import- 
ant and  honorable  art.  But  whether  it  was  culti- 
vated any  where  to  a  very  high  degree,  either  as  a 
science  or  as  an  art.  is  a  question  which,  amid  the 
many  allusions  of  ancient  writers,  both  sacred  and 
secular,  to  the  use,  power  and  influence  of  music  on 
Various  occasions,  cannot  be  decided  beyond  all  dis- 
pute. 

In  spite  even  of  the  most  intricate  refinements 
of  the  philosophical  Greeks,  with  their  famous  sys- 
tems, genera  and  modes,  it  seems  to  be  the  general 
opinion  of  such  modern  writers  as  must  be  deemed 
the  most  competent  to  discuss  this  subject,  that  an- 
cient  music  was  quite  rude.  Adverse  to  this  opinion, 
however,  there  is  abundant  testimony  to  shield  from 
the  charge  of  enthusiastic  and  overweening  admira- 


ANCIENT     MUSIC.  0 

tion  of  antiquity,  those  who  hold  that  in  the  art  of 
music,  as  in  others,  the  ancients  may  have  made 
attainments,  which  the  moderns  have  not  been  pre- 
pared to  appreciate.  And  some  of  the  particulars  of 
such  testimony  derived  from  secular  history  are  not 
destitute  of  important  bearing,  as  respects  the  state 
of  music  in  ancient  times. 

For  example :  Among  the  relics  of  ancient  art 
discovered  in  the  ruins  of  Herculaneum  and  Pom- 
peii, which  were  buried  in  ashes  nearly  two  thou- 
sand years  ago,  there  was  brought  to  light  from  the 
barracks  of  the  latter  city,  a  musical  instrument 
somewhat  similar  in  form  and  design  to  the  trom- 
bone ;  which  is  one  of  the  most  effective  and  im- 
portant of  all  instruments  in  a  modern  band  of  horns. 
The  remarkable  instrument  thus  recovered  from  the 
rubbish  of  antiquity  is  described  by  an  entertaining 
writer  in  these  words : — "  The  lower  part  of  it  is 
made  of  bronze,  and  the  upper  with  the  mouth-piece 
of  solid  gold.  The  king  of  Naples  made  a  present 
of  it  to  George  III. ;  and  from  this  antique  the  in- 
struments now  called  by  the  Italians  tromboni  have 
been  fashioned."  * 

This  assertion,  indeed,  respecting  the  invention 
of  the  trombone,  seems  to  have  been  made  without 
due  investigation  of  the  subject.  The  trombone  is 
a  trumpet,  which  consists  partly  of  a  movable  or 
sliding  shaft ;  comprising  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  whole  tube  of  the  instrument.  It  is,  in  other 
words,  a  draw-trumpet.     But  such  an  instrument 

*  Gardiner's  Music  of  Nature,  p.  353. 


6  ROMAN     MUSIC. 

had  been  mentioned  by  Luscinius,  in  the  first  part 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  And  to  his  account  of  a 
trumpet  with  "ductile  tubes  of  brass,"*  may  be 
added  that  of  Mersennus,  who,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  wrote  a  minute  description 
of  the  trombone  ;  as  a  "  tractile  or  movable  trumpet, 
of  which  a  part  might  be  drawn  out  from  another 
part,  and  returned  into  it  again,  as  a  sword  is  hid  in 
its  sheath ;"  with  much  more  to  the  same  effect, 
giving  in  detail  nearly  all  the  parts  of  the  trombone 
now  in  use.f 

Nevertheless,  an  instrument  bearing  some  re- 
semblance to  this  was  discovered  at  Pompeii.  This 
fact  the  learned  Dr.  Burney  attests,  from  personal 
knowledge;  speaking  of  an  "inedited  instrument" 
just  brought  to  light  toward  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  and  giving  a  diagram  of  it  in  the  appendix 
to  his  first  volume.  Another  learned  writer  also 
mentions  two  instruments  found  at  Herculaneum 
and  Pompeii,  and  says  concerning  one  of  them,  that 
"  in  quality  of  tone  it  has  not  been  equalled  by  any 
of  modern  manufacture."  t  And  of  these  two  in- 
struments, the  one  would  seem  to  be  the  "  inedited 
instrument"  described  by  Dr.  Burney,  and  the  other 
the  antique  mentioned  by  Gardiner. 

Now  the  ancient  instrument  thus  recovered  after 
the  lapse  of  eighteen  hundred  years,  is  supposed  by 
some  learned  men  to  be  the  same  which  is  called  in 


*  Hawkins's  History  of  Mus.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  454. 
t  Martini  Storia  della  Musica,  Vol.  I.,  p.  429. 
t  Lond.  Encycl.,  P.  xxix.,  p.  276. 


CHALDEAN     MUSIC.  7 

the  book  of  Daniel  the  sackbut.*  And  this  opinion 
affords  ground  for  a  higher  estimate  of  the  sacred 
music  of  the  ancient  Jews,  than  most  musicians  of 
modern  times  have  been  wont  to  adopt  The  exist- 
ence of  such  an  instrument  in  the  days  of  Daniel, 
would  indicate  no  low  state  of  that  species  of  music 
which  is  produced  by  wind  instruments.  A  corre- 
sponding advancement  in  various  species  of  music 
is  indicated  by  the  description  of  a  concert  or  union 
of  various  instruments,  which  is  plainly  implied 
where  the  decree  of  Nebuchadnezzar  concerning  the 
golden  image  in  the  plain  of  Dura  mentions  "  the 
sound  of  the  cornet,  flute,  harp,  sackbut,  psaltery, 
dulcimer,  and  all  kinds  of  music"!  All  this  cannot 
be  with  reason  understood  otherwise,  than  to  denote 
a  considerable  degree  of  skill  in  music  on  the  part 
of  the  Chaldeans.  And  yet,  while  the  children  of 
Israel  wept  at  the  waters  of  Babylon,  and  hanged 
their  harps  upon  the  willows,  those  that  carried  them 
captive  thither  desired  them  to  sing  "one  of  the 
songs  of  Zion  ;"t  not  without  an  appearance  of  ad- 
miration of  such  music ;  the  idea  of  some  divines 
and  commentators  that  the  request  of  the  captors 
was  intended  as  an  insult  to  the  mourning  Jews 
being  altogether  a  gratuitous  supposition.  Whether, 
then,  the  Babylonians  had,  or  had  not,  among  all 
their  instruments  of  music,  any  thing  similar  to  the 
instrument  found  at  Pompeii,  it  is  not  an  unauthor- 
ized conclusion,  that  the    music  with   which   the 

*  Comp.  Gardiner,  Hawkins,  and  Lond.  Encycl.,  as  cited. 
I"  Dan.  iiL  5,  10,  15.  t  Ps.  cxxxvii.  3. 


8  HEBREW     MUSIC. 

heavenly  sentiments  of  the  book  of  Psalms  were 
set  forth  in  the  worship  of  the  ancient  Jews  was 
quite  worthy  of  its  place,  notwithstanding  its  im- 
perfections, as  compared  with  the  productions  and 
performances  of  the  great  masters  of  music  in  the 
Christian  Church.*  This  conclusion,  moreover,  in 
view  of  the  decided  separation  and  alienation  of 
Jews  from  Christians  ever  since  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  derives  some  confirmation  from  the  fact, 
that  among  the  best  themes  and  most  pleasing  me- 
lodies employed  by  a  very  celebrated  composer  of 
the  last  century,t  are  to  be  found  various  airs  which 
were  used  at  that  time  by  the  Jews  in  different  cities 
of  Europe ;  the  musical  taste  and  skill  of  that  re- 
markable people  being,  with  their  other  peculiarities, 
in  a  high  degree  traditionary ;  although  the  best 
melodies  employed  by  them  at  the  present  day,  in 
their  sacred  music,  may  have  been  of  recent  origin. t 
Similar  evidence  of  skill  in  music,  on  the  part 

*  Burney  gives  from  personal  knowledge  the  following  anec- 
dote : — 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  grand  Caliph  of 
Persia  being  on  an  embassy  at  St.  Petersburg,  had  the  service  of  his 
religion  performed  in  a  kind  of  mosque  fitted  up  for  his  use  in  the 
palace  of  the  Czar.  A  Jewish  priest  who  was  there  at  the  same 
time,  upon  hearing  that  service,  found  the  singing  so  similar  to  that 
of  the  German  synagogues,  that  he  thought  it  was  performed  in  de- 
rision of  the  Jews.  But  upon  inquiry,  finding  that  it  was  the  kind  of 
singing  common  in  Persia,  he  concluded  that  the  Persians  had  bor- 
rowed it  from  the  ancient  Jews. — Gen.  Hist,  of  3Ius.,  Vol.  II., 
p.  256. 

t  Benedetto  Marcello ;  sometimes  called,  by  the  Italians,  "  the 
Prince  of  Music." 

X  This  appears  from  the  diversity  of  such  melodies. 


ITS     INSTRUMENTS.  9 

of  the  ancient  Jews,  may  be  derived  from  what  is 
related  in  Holy  Scripture,  concerning  the  use  of 
trumpets  in  some  of  their  services.*  When  we  read 
of  an  hundred  and  twenty  priests  sounding  with 
trumpets,!  we  are  apt  to  conclude,  that  the  result  of 
ther  performances  was  chiefly  a  great  noise,  without 
much  of  real  music  in  it,  either  in  the  form  of  har- 
mony or  melody.  But  let  it  be  supposed  that  there 
is  some  ground  for  a  conjecture,  that  of  the  hundred 
and  twenty  trumpets  thus  employed,  there  were 
many  classes  of  different  size  and  pitch,  like  the 
various  pipes  in  the  several  stops  of  an  organ  ;  and 
that  by  the  training  and  arrangement  of  the  priests, 
the  performer  who  had  a  trumpet  of  a  certain  size 
or  pitch,  or  the  whole  class  of  those  who  had  trum- 
pets in  unison,  sounding  the  same  note  in  higher 
and  lower  octaves,  produced  effects  similar  to  those 
which  an  organist  produces,  by  touching  a  certain 
key,  or  all  the  keys  of  the  same  name  or  degree,  in 
his  instrument.  It  is  manifest,  that  music  of  no 
mean  character  might  be  produced,  by  such  a  num- 
ber of  horns  so  employed.  And  sufficient  ground 
for  the  supposition  thus  offered  is  furnished  by  an 
account  of  a  similar  arrangement  in  modern  times, 
which  is  described  by  an  ingenious  writer,  already 
named, {  to  this  effect : 

"  There  is  a  species  of  horn  or  trumpet  music  in 
Russia  that  surpasses  every  thing  of  its  kind.  A 
French  gentleman,  a  musician  of  celebrity, §  visiting 

*  1  Chron.  xv.  28.   xvi.  4-6.  t  2  Chron.  v.  12. 

X  Gardiner,  pp.  349,  350.  $  M.  Baillot. 

1* 


10  RUSSIAN     MUSIC. 

at  the  court  of  the  emperor  at  Moscow,  was  con- 
ducted by  a  prince  into  a  long,  dark  gallery,  where, 
at  a  distance,  was  stationed  this  extraordinary  band. 
The  composer  listened  with  astonishment,  and  was 
asked  by  the  prince,  what  he  thought  of  it.  '  All 
that  I  know,'  replied  the  musician,  '  is,  that  it  is 
like  nothing  on  this  earth.  It  is  the  music  of  an- 
other world,  and  I  am  utterly  at  a  loss  even  to  guess 
how  it  is  produced.'  Lights  were  instantly  brought, 
and  there  appeared  two  hundred  soldiers,  each  with 
a  trumpet  or  horn  in  his  hand,  varying  in  length 
from  the  size  of  an  extinguisher — which  they  much 
resembled — to  twenty  feet.  And  what  is  most  ex- 
traordinary, while  each  performer  made  upon  his 
instrument  but  a  single  note,  yet  all  fell  in  succes- 
sion so  aptly,  that  the  two  hundred  tones,  in  per- 
forming a  symphony  of  Haydn's,  had  the  effect  of 
one  grand  instrument.  The  power  of  accent  thus 
exerted  by  every  person  upon  his  individual  note, 
gave  a  series  of  effects  to  the  performance  unattain- 
able in  any  other  way,  and  as  endless  as  they  were 
surprising." 

The  author  of  this  account  wrote  under  the  im- 
pression that  it  could  "  only  be  heard  in  the  palace 
of  the  emperor."  But  a  writer  of  "  travels  in  Rus- 
sia" at  the  beginning  of  this  century,*  gives  a  simi- 
lar account  of  another  exhibition,  on  a  smaller  scale, 
of  the  same  species  of  music,  which  is  said  to  be 
unknown  except  in  Russia  or  Poland.t  "  It  was 
invented,"  he  says,  "  by  a  Prince  Gallitzin,  in  the 

*  Porter.  t  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  II.,  p.  287. 


MUSIC     OF     HORUS.  11 

year  1762.  This  instrument  consists  of  forty  per- 
sons, whose  life  is  spent  in  blowing  one  note.  The 
sounds  produced  are  similar  to  those  of  an  immense 
organ,  with  this  difference,  that  each  note  seems  to 
blend  with  its  preceding  and  following  one  ;  a  cir- 
cumstance that  occasions  a  blunt  sensation  to  the 
ear,  and  gives  a  monotony  to  the  whole.  However 
the  effect  possesses  much  sublimity.  Some  of  the 
performers  play  at  different  times  on  several  pipes 
of  various  sizes  which  breathe  the  higher  notes ; 
but  the  bass  pipes  have  each  their  unchanging 
blower.  They  are  extremely  long,  and  are  laid 
upon  a  machine  or  trussel.  The  shape  is  exactly 
that  of  a  hearing  trumpet ;  and  a  screw  is  inserted 
near  the  bell  of  the  tube,  to  give  it  a  sharper  or  flatter 
note,  as  may  be  required." 

In  view  of  these  and  other  similar  accounts  of 
the  musical  skill  of  the  Russians,  it  may,  without 
much  risk,  be  supposed  that  the  effect  of  the  trum- 
pets sounded  by  the  priests  in  the  temple  at  Jeru- 
salem was,  at  times,  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  a 
succession  of  single  notes  upon  an  organ  of  loud 
and  harsh  stops  and  of  imperfect  mechanism.  And 
at  all  events,  the  conjecture  thus  suggested  with 
regard  to  the  character  of  some  of  the  music  of  an- 
cient times,  leads  very  directly  to  an  interesting  and 
important  view  of  some  of  the  most  prominent  stages 
of  modern  advancement  both  in  the  science  and  the 
art  of  music,  and  the  most  effectual  of  all  the  causes 
by  which  its  progress  has  been  vastly  accelerated 
within  the  last  three  centuries. 

It  is  not  easy,  indeed,  to  trace  with  precision  the 


12  CHEISTIAN     ERA. 

history  and  progress  of  music  from  the  days  of  Nehe- 
miah  to  the  date  of  the  invention  of  organs.  Nor  is  it 
necessary  here  to  undertake  a  critical  investigation 
respecting  the  period  to  which  that  invention,  or  the 
introduction  of  the  organ  into  Christian  worship,  must 
be  referred.  It  will,  for  the  present,  suffice  to  remark, 
that  the  great  improvement  of  this  noble  instrument 
in  the  sixteenth  century,*  including  the  period  of  the 
Reformation,  presents  an  instance  of  successful  appli- 
cation of  human  ingenuity  and  of  rapid  progress  in 
useful  arts,  not  unworthy  to  be  associated  with  the 
printing-press  and  the  mariner's  compass,  and  other 
great  inventions  of  modern  times.  But  in  view  of 
the  obvious  bearing  of  this  remark,  as  respects  the 
recent  progress  of  modern  civilization,  from  its  im- 
mediate sources  in  all  the  great  intellectual,  moral, 
and  social  movements  of  the  eventful  period  included 
in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  the  condi- 
tion and  progress  of  music  in  the  early  ages  of 
Christianity  must  by  no  means  be  overlooked. 

Of  course,  in  the  infancy  of  the  Christian  church, 
and  during  its  period  of  bondage,  under  the  oppres- 
sion of  Jewish  and  Pagan  persecutors,  much  pro- 
gress in  the  cultivation  of  instrumental  music  was 
impracticable.  The  great  question  concerning  the 
state  of  sacred  music  at  that  period  is  this.  Does  it 
indicate  a  disposition  in  the  most  faithful  and  zeal- 
ous Christians  of  primitive  times,  to  cherish  such  an 
i  nterest  in  music  as  would  naturally  result,  under 
greater   external   prosperity  of  the  church,   in  the 

*  See  Encycl.  Amer.,  Art.  Organ.     La  Trobe,  p.  349. 


FIRST     CENTURY.  13 

•cultivation  of  this  delightful  art,  and  the  adoption 
of  those  inventions  and  improvements,  which  might, 
from  time  to  time,  be  made  applicable  to  promote 
some  of  the  objects  of  social  worship  ?  And  the 
true  answer  to  this  question  is  to  be  found  only  in  a 
careful,  critical  investigation  of  the  writings  of  the 
ancient  Christians ;  whose  instructive  allusions  to 
this  subject  have  been  frequently  treated  as  of  too 
slight  importance  to  demand  a  very  precise  inter- 
pretation, and  not  seldom  also  perverted,  by  preju- 
diced advocates  of  certain  systems,  to  the  support 
of  foregone  conclusions. 

It  cannot,  indeed,  be  denied,  that  the  diverse  sen- 
timents expressed  in  a  few  passages  of  the  authentic 
writings  of  very  early  fathers  of  the  church,  present 
some  difficulty  to  one  who  would  thoroughly  weigh 
the  testimony  and  teachings  of  all  ancient  Christians, 
respecting  the  proper  use  and  due  cultivation  of  mu- 
sic, as  a  part  of  public  worship,  in  the  church  of  the 
new  dispensation ;  and  for  this  reason,  if  for  no  other, 
it  is  important  that  the  true  teaching  of  the  New 
Testament  be  made  the  basis  of  any  answer  to  the 
question  under  consideration. 

The  plain  bearing  of  the  passages  cited  in  the 
introduction,  from  the  revelation  of  St.  John,  in  which 
the  glorified  servants  of  the  Lord  in  heaven  are 
represented  as  "  harpers  harping  with  their  harps," 
can  hardly  be  mistaken.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive 
upon  what  grounds  imagery  thus  derived  from  the 
usages  of  public  worship  under  the  old  dispensation 
could  be  employed  to  represent  the  condition  of  saints 
in  the  church  triumphant,  unless  similar  usages  were 


14  MUSIC    AS    IT    WAS. 

allowable  and  desirable  under  the  new  dispensation. 
This  fundamental  and  irrefragable  argument,  from 
the  New  Testament,  for  the  use  of  instrumental 
music  in  the  Christian  church,  needs  no  corrobora- 
tion from  any  other  passage  of  Holy  Scripture.  But 
there  is,  in  St.  Paul's  injunction  to  his  fellow  Chris- 
tians to  "  speak  to  themselves  in  psalms  and  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs,  singing  and  making  melody  in 
their  heart  to  the  Lord,"*  an  important  expression, 
which  is  not  fully  rendered  by  the  phraseology  of 
our  English  translation,  according  to  the  common 
understanding  of  the  phrase,  "  making  melody." 
The  Greek  term,  which  is  rendered  by  these  words, 
is  ^dWovTes,  psallontes.  It  literally  signifies,  in  its 
primary  and  specific  meaning,  playing  upon  the 
psaltery,  or  some  similar  instrument  of  strings.  This 
remark  is  fully  justified  by  the  uniform  current  of 
ancient  usage,  not  only  in  the  Greek  language,  but 
also  in  the  Latin,  to  which  the  term  psallo  was  directly 
transferred  from  the  Greek.  The  primary  and  specific 
application  of  this  term  to  the  music  of  instruments, 
or  to  vocal  music  accompanied  by  them,  is  every 
where  recognized  in  ancient  writings,  classical  and 
ecclesiastical ;  from  the  Greek  of  the  Alexandrine 
version  of  the  Old  Testament,!  and  that  of  the  Attic 


*  Eph.  v.  19. 

+  Of  the  common  use  of  this  word  in  the  Septuagint  the  following 
examples  are  a  fair  specimen  : 

"  And  David  took,  an  harp,  and  played,  Gr.  fyaXXev,  with  his 
hand."     1  Sam.  xvi.  23. 

"  A  man  who  is  a  cunning  player  on  the  harp,"  iiZ6ra  \pd\Aeiv. 
v.  16. 


FIRST    CENTURY.  15 

tragedians  and  lyrists,  down  to  the  Latin  of  the  mid- 
dle ages.  It  is,  of  course,  sanctioned  by  all  lexico- 
graphers. *  It  is  also  largely  insisted  on  by  some  of 
the  most  learned  among  the  ancient  fathers,  in  their 
voluminous  and  beautiful  expositions  of  the  book  of 
Psalms.t  And  as  explained  by  them,  it  is  by  no 
means  denied,  if  even  overlooked,  by  our  translators, 
in  their  expressive  phrase  "  making  melody."  More- 
over, there  is  nothing  in  the  language  of  St.  Paul,  in 
any  other  part  of  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  nor  in 
any  of  his  writings,  to  limit  his  use  of  the  term  ifrd\- 
Xovres  (psallontes)  here  to  its  secondary  meaning,  in 
which  it  is,  doubtless,  sometimes  used  to  denote  the 
singing  of  psalms  without  instrumental  accompani- 
ment.* There  could  be  no  error,  therefore,  in  inter- 
preting his  language  in  this  clause,  ahovres  teal  ^aX~ 


"  A  man  that  can  play  well,"  op&ws  ypaWovra.     v.  17. 

"  Cunning  in  playing,"  iiSora  y\iaK^}>v.     v.  18. 

*  See  Steph.,  Schleusn.,  Wahl.,  Donn.,  Lidd.  and  Scott  et  al. 

t  Augustine,  in  his  discourses  on  the  Psalms,  and  Jerome  and 
others,  expressly  apply  the  Latin  word  psallo  with  much  precision 
of  language,  to  the  manual  act  of  playing  on  a  stringed  instrument. 
Vide  Aug.  passim.  Prudentius  also  (De  Coron.  ix.  838)  employs 
the  classical  phrase  "  docta  psallere ;"  probably  to  denote  one  skilled 
in  playing  on  such  an  instrument ;  even  though  this  phrase,  as  used 
by  Horace  and  Sallust,  might  well  have  been  almost  repulsive  to  a 
Christian  poet. 

t  It  is  natural  to  suppose  it  thus  limited  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  15,  and  per- 
haps in  Jas.  v.  13.  But  often  when  this  word  is  used  by  Latin  or 
Greek  fathers  in  its  secondary  sense,  to  denote  singing  without  an 
instrument,  its  primary  meaning  is  expressly  recognized  under  the 
significant  idea  that  the  tongue,  like  the  plectrum  or  bow  of  a  stringed 
instrument,  strikes  upon  the  other  organs  of  the  human  voice.  Prud. 
De  Coron.  v.  312,  315  ;  ix.  6.  Chrys.  Ps.  xli.  xlii.  et  al. 


16  MUSIC    AS     IT     WAS. 

\ovt€s  iv  rfj  /capSia  vfxwv  rS  Kvplw,  by  these  words, 
singing-  and  playing  heartily  unto  the  Lord :  even 
upon  the  supposition,  that  the  Christians  of  that  pe- 
riod, constantly  liable  as  they  were  to  persecution 
and  oppression,  rarely  had  opportunity  to  introduce 
instrumental  music  into  their  public  worship. 

This  criticism  is  necessary  to  a  true  and  safe 
view  of  some  sentiments  expressed  by  the  earliest  of 
those  fathers  whose  writings  contain  allusions  to  the 
music  of  the  primitive  church.  Especially  is  it  im- 
portant with  reference  to  a  certain  spurious  passage 
sometimes  ascribed  to  Justin  Martyr,  who  lived  but 
a  short  time  after  St.  John.  His  authentic  writings 
are  often  justly  cited  to  show  what  importance  the 
primitive  Christians  attached  to  the  sacred  exercise 
of  singing  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs. 
But  the  passage  now  referred  to  expresses  under  his 
name,  in  some  editions  of  his  works,  sentiments 
which  are  at  first  view  quite  unfavorable  to  the  ad- 
vocates of  instrumental  music.     It  is  in  these  terms : 

"  To  sing  simply  is  not  fit  for  children,  but  to 
sing  with  instruments,  and  with  dancing,  and  with 
cymbals  or  rattles.  Wherefore  in  the  churches  the 
use  of  such  instruments,*  and  of  others  which  are  fit 
for  children,  is  taken  away  from  the  sacred  songs, 
and  simple  singing  is  left."t 

If  this  were  indeed  the  language  of  Justin  Mar- 
tyr, it  might  be  easily  reconciled  with  that  of  St.  Paul 
and  St.  John,  in  their  plain  allusions  to  the  psaltery 


*  Twv  TotovvTwv  opyavwv. 

t  Quest.,  p.  462,  Ed.  Colon.  1686. 


SECOND     CENTURY.  17 

and  harp,  for  a  description  of  what  is  fit  for  the  use 
of  Christians,  and  illustrative  of  the  pure  and  perfect 
worship  of  saints  in  heaven;  and  therefore  not  pecu- 
liar to  the  childhood  of  the  church  under  the  old  dis- 
pensation of  bondage.  It  might  still  be  shown,  from 
some  expressions  in  the  passage,  that,  whoever  was 
its  author,  he  did  not  lay  an  objection  absolutely 
against  all  instruments.  He  speaks  first  of  singing 
"  with  instruments  and  with  dancing,  and  cymbals 
and  castanets,  or  rattles."  He  then  says  that  "  the 
use  of  such  instruments  and  of  others  which  are  fit 
for  children  was  taken  away  from  the  sacred  songs 
of  the  church,  and  simple  singing  was  left."  And 
when  it  is  considered  that  in  ancient  times,  the  use 
of  the  harp  or  lyre,  a  simple  instrument  called  the 
cithara  or  kithai'a,  somewhat  similar  to  the  guitar, 
was  intimately  connected  with  all  singing  performed 
under  circumstances  of  leisure,  the  phrase  "  simple 
singing,"  as  used  in  the  passage  in  question,  cannot 
be  safely  taken  to  imply  an  absolute  prohibition  of 
the  music  of  such  instruments  in  the  religious  wor- 
ship of  Christians.  Whatever,  therefore,  may  have 
been  the  origin  of  this  apparent  objection  to  instru- 
mental music  in  the  Christian  church,  it  is,  in  the 
most  unfavorable  aspect,  easily  obviated.  And  this 
explanation  of  it  is  confirmed  by  the  important  testi- 
mony of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  whose  language,  in 
some  remarkable  passages,  deserves  particular  consi- 
deration. 

This  father  lived  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second 
century.  He  was  author  of  several  very  important 
passages,  which  have  been  often  cited,  in  favor  of 


18  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

instrumental  music  in  Christian  worship.  Yet  he 
also  expresses  disapprobation  of  certain  instruments, 
which  were  in  that  age  abused  by  the  heathen  to 
purposes  of  sensuality  and  licentiousness,  and  to 
the  ensnaring  of  unstable  Christians.  Thus  he  com- 
plains that  u  some  like  polypi,  which  they  say  are 
assimilated  in  color  to  the  stones  to  which  they  cling, 
laying  aside  the  devotion  which  they  put  on  in 
church,  after  their  departure  thence,  become  assimi- 
lated to  the  multitude  with  whom  they  are  conver- 
sant ;  and  abroad  are  beside  themselves  with  ungodly 
sounds,  and  amorous  ditties ;  being  filled  with  the 
music  of  pipes  and  cymbals,  and  with  drunkenness, 
and  every  thing  base.  And  after  this  manner,  sing- 
ing first  one  way  and  then  another,  those  who  before 
in  their  hymns  celebrated  immortality,  finally,  being 
evil,  wickedly  make  in  their  very  music,  a  recanta- 
tion unto  perdition."* 

Here  it  is  important  to  remark,  once  for  all,  that 
upon  this  subject  many  writers  have,  in  various  in- 
stances, cited  very  erroneous  or  imperfect  versions  of 
passages  from  the  fathers,  apparently  without  exam- 
ining the  original  at  all ;  often  giving  no  reference 
to  the  passages,  even  at  second  hand,  and  rarely  re- 
peating them  in  Greek  or  Latin.     Thus  the  passage 


*  Paed.  L.  III.,  c.  11,  p.  256.     Ed.  Sylburg.  1629. 

Hawkins,  in  his  Preliminary  Discourse,  seems  rather  to  disapprove 
of  the  censures  uttered  by  Clement  and  others  of  the  ancient  fathers 
against  certain  instruments.  But  afterwards,  when  he  eomes  to  de- 
scribe such  instruments,  and  has  occasion  to  cite  what  some  heathen 
poets  have  said  of  their  nature,  design  and  use,  he  says,  "  It  appears 
thai  the  censure  of  Clement  was  well-grounded."  Vol.  I.,  p.  248. 


SECOND     CENTURY.  19 

just  cited  has  been  given,  by  some  writers  of  high 
reputation,  in  a  form  which  renders  its  testimony 
very  ambiguous,  if  not  quite  unfavorable  to  musical 
instruments  generally.*  And  yet  Clement,  in  the  very 
same  book  and  chapter,  reproving  an  ostentatious 
display  of  rings  on  the  fingers,  had  expressly  allowed 
to  Christians,  among  other  significant  seals,  or  em- 
blems, such  as  the  dove,  fish,  ship  and  anchor,  the 
lyre  of  Polycrates.  t 

In  another  place  he  represents  Christians  as  no 
longer  worshipping  God  with  various  instruments  of 
music  which  were  used  in  war,  such  as  the  trumpet 
and  drum,  and  cymbal,  and  fife.  But  at  the  same 
time  he  says  of  Christian  music,  "  This  is  our  accep- 
table festivity.  And  if  you  wish  to  sing  to  the 
cithara  or  lyre,  and  to  play  the  psaltery,  that  is  not 
censurable.  You  will  imitate  the  righteous  Hebrew 
king,  who  was  acceptable  to  God.  Rejoice,  ye 
righteous,  in  the  Lord;  for  praise  becometh  the  just; 
saith  the  prophecy.  Praise  ye  the  Lord  on  the 
cithara,  and  play  to  him  on  the  psaltery  with  ten 
strings."  X 

Nor  is  the  objection  which  the  learned  Suicer§ 
makes  to  the  last  part  of  this  passage,  oh  account  of 
its  apparent  contradiction  of  the  first  part,  a  valid 
objection,  in  any  respect.  To  sustain  it,  he  is  obliged 
to  bring  in  the  rationalistic  suggestion  of  Procopius, 


*  Burney,  and  Latrobe  after  him,  p.  43. 

t  Paed.  Clem.,  p.  246. 

X  Paedag.,  II.,  4,  pp.  164,  165. 

§  Thesaur.  Eccles.,  v.  6pyauoy. 


20  MUSIC    AS    IT    WAS. 

that  the  use  of  instruments  in  the  Jewish  church 
was  not  a  divine  appointment,  but  an  invention  of 
king  David  !  Under  such  circumstances,  others  who 
may  find  any  troublesome  discrepancies  in  the  teach- 
ings of  Clement  upon  this  subject,  must  surely  be 
at  liberty  to  adopt  such  of  his  assertions  as  may 
seem  to  them  most  agreeable  to  the  general  tenor  of 
Holy  Writ. 

But  the  force  of  one  of  the  most  interesting 
among  the  very  numerous  allusions  of  Clement  to 
the  music  of  the  primitive  church  has  been  generally 
lost  through  a  mistranslation ;  which  has  been  hand- 
ed along  in  a  very  remarkable  manner,  from  one 
modern  writer  to  another.  The  passage  here  refer- 
red to  is  commonly  given  in  these  words  :*  "  This 
is  the  chosen  mountain  of  the  Lord,  unlike  Cithaeron, 
which  has  furnished  subjects  to  tragedy ;  it  is  dedi- 
cated to  truth :  a  mountain  of  greater  purity,  over- 
spread with  chaste  shades.  It  is  inhabited  by  the 
daughters  of  God,  the  fair  lambs  who  celebrate  toge- 
ther the  venerable  orgies,  collecting  the  chosen  choir. 
The  singers  are  holy  men,  their  song  is  the  hymn 
of  the  Almighty  King ;  virgins  chant,  angels  glorify, 
prophets  discourse,  while  music  sweetly  sounding  is 
heard."  t  Nor  is  the  general  tenor  of  this  version 
very  exceptionable.  But  the  Greek  word  here  trans- 
lated "  chant"  is  the  same  which  has  been  already 
noted  as  a  word  very  often  misconstrued.  It  signi- 
fies, in  its  primary  specific  sense,  to  play  upon,  or  at 


*  Higgins,  203,  and  Smith,  67,  who  depends  on  Burney. 
t  Admonitio  ad  Gent.,  p.  74. 


SECOND     CENTURY.  21 

least  to  sing  to,  the  psaltery  or  the  lyre.  And  as  in 
the  passage  from  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  already 
considered,  so  in  this,  there  is  nothing  which  requires 
that  a  more  limited  meaning  be  adopted.  Much  less 
is  there  any  thing  in  the  original  language  of  Cle- 
ment, which  restricts  it  to  the  peculiar  species  desig- 
nated by  the  English  word  chant.  Moreover,  the 
clause,  "music  sweetly  sounding  is  heard,"  when 
translated  literally,  reads  thus  :  "the  sound  of  music 
is  sent  forth."  And  this  manifestly  implies  the  pos- 
sibility and  propriety  of  instrumental  music,  as  a 
part  of  the  Christian  exercises  described  by  Clement 
in  this  remarkable  passage. 

That  the  meaning  of  Clement  in  this  passage  is 
not  misrepresented  by  this  criticism  may  be  proved 
most  conclusively  by  his  own  use  of  the  word  yfrd\- 
\ec,  psallei,  in  another  place,  which  has  been  rarely, 
if  ever,  referred  to  by  modern  writers  on  music.  In 
the  beginning  of  his  Admonition  to  the  Gentiles, 
having,  at  much  length,  and  with  great  precision 
and  judgment,  compared  the  divine  work  of  creation 
to  that  of  a  composer  and  performer  of  music,  he 
says:  "And  He.  who  was  of  David,  and  before  him, 
the  Word  of  God,  overlooking  the  lyre  and  cithara, 
inanimate  instruments,  and  preparing  this  world,  and 
also  that  little  world,  man,  and  his  soul  and  body, 
with  the  Holy  Spirit,  makes  melody*  to  God  with  the 
instrument  of  many  notes  J  and  sings  J:  to  this  instru- 
ment, man :  Thou  art  my  harp,  and  pipe,  and  tem- 
ple ;  harp,  on  account  of  harmony  ;  pipe,  on  account 

*  j//aAAet.  t  rov  iro\v(pa>vov  opydvov.  t  irpoaaBn. 


22  MUSIC    AS     IT    WAS- 

of  spirit ;  temple,  on  account  of  speech  :  that  the 
first,  indeed,  may  strike  out,*  the  second  breathe 
forth  praise ;  and  the  last  accept  the  Lord."t  And 
in  the  same  place  he  says  again  :  "  The  Lord  made 
man  a  beautiful  and  breathing  instrument,  accord- 
ing to  His  own  image." 

The  next  of  the  early  fathers  worthy  of  notice 
here  is  Eusebius,  who  flourished  at  the  end  of  the 
third  century  and  the  beginning  of  the  fourth.  His 
writings  abound  in  very  instructive  allusions  to  the 
subject  of  music,  viewed  in  various  aspects.  And 
some  of  his  incidental  illustrations  of  other  subjects 
by  significant  references  to  this,  afford  important 
testimony  respecting  the  state  of  music  among  the 
primitive  Christians. 

Like  Clement,  in  the  passages  last  considered, 
he  puts  upon  instrumental  music  the  highest  honor 
of  which  any  human  art  is  capable ;  representing 
the  works  of  creation  under  the  figure  of  a  great 
musical  instrument,  upon  which  the  Almighty  Crea- 
tor makes  melody.  Thus,  in  his  Praises  of  Con- 
stantine,t  he  uses  this  comparison  to  illustrate  the 
Divine  wisdom  and  power.  Speaking  of  God,  he 
says : 

"And  having  constructed  for  himself  this  all- 
harmonious  instrument,  he  played  upon  the  irra- 
tional, shapeless,  and  confused  substance  of  bodies, 
with  a  most  wise  and  rational  faculty ;  well  fitting 


*  Kpcitri.  t  Admon.  ad  Gent.,  p.  4. 

%  P.  637.  Ed.  Vales.  1659. 


THIRD    CENTURY.  23 

the  disjuncts  to  the  diatones"*  "  Indeed,  this  sensi- 
ble world, — as  a  lyre  of  many  strings,  consisting  of 
diverse  chords,  both  high  and  deep,  also  slack  and 
strained,  and  midway  between  the  two,  but  all  well 
arranged,  according  to  the  art  of  music, — after  the 
same  manner  this  world,  being  of  many  parts,  and 
very  complex ;  of  cold  and  its  contrary  heat  toge- 
ther ;  and  again  of  a  moist  substance,  and  its  con- 
trary a  dry  one  ,*  coming  into  one  harmony,  becomes 
the  instrument  and  great  workmanship  of  the  great 
God ;  and  the  Divine  word,  not  consisting  of  parts^ 
nor  made  up  of  contraries,  but  being  without  parts, 
and  uncompounded,  doth  well  and  wisely  play  upon 
the  universe,t  to  his  Father  the  King  of  all ;  ren- 
dering melody  which  is  appropriate  and  becoming 
to  Him."} 

And  while  thus  indirectly  attesting  the  tendency 
of  Christianity  to  elevate  and  advance  the  noble  art 
of  music,  Eusebius  also  gives  an  important  view  of 
the  care  that  was  taken,  and  the  arrangements  that 
were  made,  in  an  early  age  of  the  church,  for  secu- 
ring a  proper  application  of  this  art  to  the  services 
of  public  worship.  Describing  those  services,  he 
says :  "  There  was  one  influence  of  the  Divine  Spi- 
rit pervading  all  the  members  ;  all  were  of  one  mind, 
and  of  the  same  zeal  in  the  faith ;  and  all  had  one 
hymn  of  divine  themes.     Moreover,  the  rites  of  the 


*  These  terms  of  ancient  music  cannot  be  well  translated  by  any 
modern  terms. 

t  to  irav  at>aKp6veTai. 

t  vr\v  b<psi\o[i4vr)v  /col  avrtf  trpitrova-qv  airoZfiovs  ^eA«5icw. 


24  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

bishops  were  exact,  and  the  ministrations  of  the 
priests ;  and  the  institutions  of  the  church  were 
acceptable  to  God.  Here  might  be  heard  the  psalmo- 
dy, and  the  rest  of  the  sounds  *  given  to  us  of  God ; 
and  here  the  performance  of  the  divine  and  mystical 
ministries."!  He  says,  also,  in  the  same  place,  that 
persons  of  every  age  and  of  both  sexes,  magnified 
the  Lord  with  all  their  heart  in  praises  and  thanks- 
givings. 

But  as  in  one  or  two  of  the  passages  cited  from 
Clement,  so  in  these  from  Eusebius,  some  care  is 
requisite  to  grasp  the  whole  meaning  of  the  signifi- 
cant and  comprehensive  expressions  by  which  the 
music  of  the  ancient  Christians  is  described.  It 
would  be  an  error  to  suppose  that  the  words  here 
translated  as  literally  as  possible  in  English  idiom 
by  the  declaration,  "  Here  might  be  heard  the 
psalmody  and  the  rest  of  the  sounds  given  to  us  of 
God,"  t  may  not  be  safely  taken  to  include  instru- 
mental music.  For  Basil,  who  was  partly  contem- 
poraneous with  Eusebius,  says  expressly,  that 
"psalm  is  a  musical  word,  denoting  what  is  ele- 
gantly struck  upon  an  instrument,  according  to  the 
rules  of  music."  §  And  Gregory  Nyssen,  the  con- 
temporary of  Basil,  gives  a  corresponding  definition 
of  this  word  II   as  Gregory  Nazianzen  of  the  same 


*    (pCtiVWV. 

t  Hist.,  L.  X.,  c.  3. 

X  'o>8e  fxkv  tyaXfAOidiais  k<x\  rais  \onrais  rS>v  &*6&ev  'r^iiv  rrapa56' 
&*i(ru)v  (poovcov  aKpod(T€(riv. 
§  Bas.  on  Ps.  xxix. 
||  Tractat.  in  Psalmos,  L.  II.,  c.  3. 


FOURTH     CENTURY.  25 

age  does  also  of  the  term  psalmody*  Yet  most 
translators  of  Eusebius,  overlooking  an  important 
part  of  the  full  signification  of  this  term,  and  failing 
to  advert  to  the  unquestionable  fact,  that  the  Greek 
word  (pwvri,  pho-ne,  is  applied,  by  classical  as  well 
as  ecclesiastical  writers,  not  merely  to  the  voice,  but 
to  various  sounds,  especially  those  of  music,  and  to 
its  notes,*  have  too  much  restricted  the  learned 
historian's  description  of  the  music  of  ancient  Chris- 
tianity. 

Of  the  most  prominent  of  the  Greek  fathers,  it  is 
only  necessary  here  to  consult  further  Chrysostom  ; 
who  was  a  presbyter  of  Antioch  and  Bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople, in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  century. 
The  golden-mouthed  master  of  pastoral  eloquence 
very  forcibly  expresses  his  sense  of  the  importance 
of  sacred  music  in  this  description  of  the  essentials 
of  a  Church.  "  Where  there  is  a  psalm,  and  prayer, 
and  a  company  of  prophets,   and  a  pious  mind  in 


*  Greg.  Naz.  Carm.  Op.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  200.     Paris,  1530. 

t  Chrysostom,  in  a  single  short  sentence,  applies  cpwj/r)  and  an- 
other word  nearly  synonymous,  to  the  sound,  note  and  tune  of  a  mu- 
sical instrument,  thus:  "  Harpers,  taking  the  ringers  of  their  pupils, 
apply  them  by  degrees  to  the  tones  ((p&oyyois),  and  teaching  them  to 
feel  their  way  by  practice,  instruct  them  to  prepare  from  the  tuneless 
sounds  (fapwvwv  tpboyywv),  and  from  strings  of  every  note  (-rrdo-ws 
QoovTJs)  a  more  sweet  and  pleasant  tune  (<p^vrji/)." — Serin.  Be  Dec. 
Mill.  TaL,  Vol.  III.,  p.  2.    Ed.  Montf.  Ven.  1734. 

A  similar  use  of  the  same  words  is  found  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  7,  8,  10. 
The  learned  Stephens  in  his  Lexicon  says,  "  As  vox  is  by  the  Latins 
applied  to  birds  and  some  beasts,  so  is  cpuur]  sometimes  among 
the  Greeks  applied  to  musical  instruments."  He  might  have  added 
hat  the  Latin  word  is  not  less  comprehensive. 
2 


26  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

those  who  sing,  no  one  will  err,  who  calls  such  a 
congregation  a  church."*  He  also  speaks  of  instru- 
mental music  thus  :  "  Those  who  call  in  David  with 
the  harp  call  in  Christ  by  him."t  Another  Greek 
writer,  perhaps  equally  ancient,^  in  a  discourse  long 
considered  by  many  critics  the  work  of  Chrysostom, 
negatively  maintaining  the  propriety  of  instrumental 
music,  with  particular  reference  to  the  views  of  some 
who  censured  and  were  ready  to  prohibit  the  cithara, 
as  an  instrument  abused  by  the  heathen  to  worldly 
uses,  speaks  thus :  "  The  cultivation  of  this  art 
should  not  have  been  blamed,  if  it  made  known  the 
Lord;"  and  "the  cithara  should  not  have  been 
blamed,  if  God  were  proclaimed  by  its  strains ;" 
with  more  to  the  same  purpose.  Thus  was  laid 
down  quite  early  a  grand  principle,  of  easy  applica- 
tion to  the  great  ecclesiastical  instrument  of  modern 
times,  the  noble  organ,  which  is  not  susceptible  of 
any  extensive  perversion  to  worldly  uses.  And  it  is 
worthy  of  remark,  that  even  the  diligent  Suicer,  in 
his  earnest  effort  to  turn  against  instrumental  music 
all  discrepancies  and  apparent  contradictions  in  any 
writings  of  the  fathers,  could  make  nothing  to  his 
purpose  out  of  Chrysostom,  without  citing  from  an 
inferior  edition  a  passage  of  questionable  authority, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  learned  critic  himself. §  The 
other  passages  which  he  cites  are  really  of  no  avail 

*  Chrys.  on  Ps.  xli.  t  Id. 

X  The  admonition  prefixed  to  the  Sermon  "  de  Dicto  Abrahami," 
in  Montfaucon's  edition,  has  these  words:  "It  is  an  ancient  work, 
and  savors  of  the  times  of  Chrysostom." 

§  Thesaurus  Eccles.,  verb,  opyavov. 


FOURTH     CENTURY.  27 

for  his  purpose.  The  first  proves  too  much  by  far. 
And  the  second  is,  upon  the  whole,  a  direct  and 
forcible  illustration  of  the  propriety  and  importance  of 
instrumental  music,  in  Christian  as  well  as  in  Jew- 
ish worship.  Both  are  worthy  of  a  prominent  place 
in  this  exhibition  of  the  views  of  Chrysostom.  The 
first  is  in  these  words : 

"  Then  there  were  instruments,  by  which  they 
offered  songs  of  praise.  But  now  instead  of  instru- 
ments the  body  is  to  be  used.  For  it  is  possible  to 
sing  not  only  with  the  tongue,  but  also  with  the  eyes, 
and  hands,  and  feet,  and  ears.  For  when  each  of 
these  does  those  things  which  bring  glory  and  praise 
to  God,  for  instance,  when  the  eye  looks  not  upon 
unchaste  sights,  when  the  hands  are  not  stretched 
out  for  rapine,  but  for  almsgiving,  when  the  ears  are 
prepared  to  receive  psalms  and  spiritual  tidings, 
when  the  feet  run  to  the  Church,  when  the  heart 
devises  not  deceits,  but  teems  with  love,  then  the 
members  of  the  body  become  a  psaltery  and  a  cithara, 
and  sing  a  new  song  which  consists  not  of  words 
but  of  deeds." 

Surely,  such  an  illustration  of  true  religion  tends 
very  little  to  the  disparagement  of  instrumental 
music.  Perhaps  the  learned  Suicer  himself  would 
not  have  applied  it  for  such  a  purpose,  if  he  had  not, 
somehow,  strangely  overlooked  the  Greek  word  -^ra\- 
ficov  (psalmon),  and  omitted  it  entirely  in  his  Latin 
version  of  the  passage.  For  he  was  well  aware  of 
the  definition  put  upon  this  word  by  Gregory  Nys- 
sen  and  Basil ;  who  say,  as  cited  by  him,*  that  it 

*  Thesaurus  Eccles.,  verb.  ^oA/xby.     Chrys.  Ps.  144  and  150. 


28  MUSIC    AS     IT    WAS. 

signifies  a  "melody  made  with  a  musical  instru- 
ment,"— "  when  it  is  struck  with  good  rhythm,  ac- 
cording to  harmonical  principles." 

Nor  is  the  other  passage  a  whit  more  unfavor- 
able to  the  use  of  instruments  in  the  Christian 
Church.     It  is  this : 

"  Those  instruments  were  allowed  for  this  rea- 
son ;  both  on  account  of  their  infirmity,  and  to 
arouse  them  to  do  with  pleasure  those  things  that 
are  profitable,  and  make  them  willing,  through  such 
inducements,  to  act  with  much  diligence.  For  God, 
perceiving  their  negligence,  and  slothfulness,  and 
backsliding,  contrived  thus  wisely  to  awaken  them  ; 
mingling  with  the  toil  of  close  attention  the  pleasure 
of  melody."* 

Doubtless,  such  reasons  for  the  use  of  musical 
instruments  in  religious  worship  were  applicable 
even  to  the  ancient  Christians,  as  well  as  to  the 
Jews.  That  they  are  applicable  to  Christians  of  the 
present  day  is  very  manifest.  And  that  Chrysostom 
was  both  zealous  and  judicious  in  his  efforts  for 
the  promotion  of  sacred  music,  may  well  be  as- 
sumed, in  view  of  his  eloquent  encomium  upon  it, 
suggested  by  the  attractiveness  of  music  in  general. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  illustrate  in  a  similar  man- 
ner the  misrepresentations  which  have  been  often 
made  of  the  sentiments  of  writers  of  less  note, 
whether  among  the  Greek  or  the  Latin  Christians. 
And  this  view  of  the  sentiments  of  the  most  promi- 
nent Greek  fathers,  may  be  well  concluded  by  an 

*  Thesaurus  Eccles.,  verb,  opyavov. 


ITS     EFFICACY.  29 

appropriate  extract  from  the  encomiastic  remarks  of 
Chrysostom : 

"  Nothing,"  he  says,  "  so  elevates  and  wings  the 
soul,  and  withdraws  it  from  the  earth,  and  delivers 
it  from  the  bonds  of  the  body,  and  makes  it  philoso- 
phize and  contemn  the  things  of  life,  as  a  melody 
in  concert,  and  a  divine  song  composed  in  rhythm.* 
For  so  is  our  nature  pleasantly  and  happily  affected 
towards  songs  and  melodies,  that  by  them  children 
at  the  breast,  crying  and  discontented,  are  lulled  to 
sleep. — Wherefore  also  travellers  often  driving  their 
beasts  at  mid-day,  and  singing,  do  this  to  beguile 
the  labor  of  the  journey  by  those  songs ;  and  not 
only  travellers,  but  also  husbandmen,  treading  the 
wine-press,  gathering  the  vintage,  pruning  the  vines, 
or  doing  any  other  work,  often  sing ;  and  seamen 
rowing  do  this,  and  also  women  weaving  and  sepa- 
rating with  the  shuttle  the  intermingled  warp,  often 
each  one  by  herself,  and  often  alkin  concert  sing  one 
certain  melody  ;  and  this  they  do,  desiring  to  beguile 
the  toil  of  their  works  with  a  song  ;  as  the  soul,  if  it 
hear  a  melody  and  a  song,  can  more  easily  bear 
troublesome  and  painful  things."t  In  the  same  strain 
he  goes  on  to  show  that  divine  psalms  and  spiritual 
songs  were  instituted  as  a  part  of  worship,  to  cheer 
and  edify  devout  souls. 

This  eloquent  description  of  the  attractiveness 
and  efficacy  of  music  is  only  equalled  by  the  similar 

*  fie\os  (Tvjxcpoivias,  Kal  f>v^/j.u>  (TvyKei/xevov  &uov  'aff/xa — literally, 
the  first  clause  signifies  music  of  symphony. 
t  Chrys.  on  Ps.  xli. 


30  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

encomium  recorded  by  the  fervid  Ambrose,  in  his 
engaging  description  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  and 
of  the  pious  use  made  of  them  by  Christians  in  the 
fourth  century.  And  in  passing  to  a  suitable  view 
of  the  new  era  of  ancient  music,  which  is  generally 
supposed  to  have  arisen  under  the  auspices  of  Am- 
brose in  the  church  of  Milan,  it  is  worth  while  to 
remark,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Augustine  and 
others,  that  some  of  the  improvements  thus  intro- 
duced among  the  western  Christians  were  brought 
from  Antioch. 

A  complete  view  of  the  influence  of  Ambrose, 
as  a  very  efficient  promoter  of  music  among  the 
Latin  Christians,  will  be  more  fitly  introduced  in  the 
discussion  of  another  topic.  But  that  there  was  in  the 
devout  Archbishop  of  Milan  a  genius  which  yearned 
after  something  more  definite  and  more  truly  re- 
fined than  the  most  cultivated  of  the  ancient  Greek 
music,  seems  manifest  from  the  testimony  of  Augus- 
tine to  the  excellence  of  the  Ambrosian  strains,  by 
which  he  was  so  happily  affected  in  the  first  stages 
of  his  penitence.  "How  much  I  wept,"  he  says, 
"  in  thy  hymns  and  sacred  songs ;  being  deeply 
moved  by  the  tunes  of  thy  sweetly  sounding  church. 
Those  tunes  flowed  in  at  my  ears,  and  thy  truth 
was  distilled  in  my  heart ;  and  thence  through  its 
power,  the  love  of  piety  boiled  forth,  and  tears  ran 
down,  and  it  was  well  with  me."*     And  when  the 

*  The  word  here  translated   tunes  is  voces.     It  is  used  in  this 
sense,  according  to  Ainsworth,  by  Virg.  Aen.  VI.  646,  in  this  verse : 

"  Obloquitur  numeris  septem  discrimina  vocum." 


AMBROSIAN     MUSIC.  31 

character  of  Augustine,  as  an  earnest  promoter  of 
cultivated  music  is  well  considered,  his  testimony 
to  the  excellence  of  that  which  was  introduced  at 
Milan  by  Ambrose  is  very  important. 

Above  all  others  of  the  ancient  Christian  writers, 
therefore,  the  devoted  Bishop  of  Hippo  is  worthy  of 
notice,  with  reference  to  the  actual  progress  of  mu- 
sic, in  one  of  the  most  eventful  periods  of  its  his- 
tory :  some  of  his  most  important  remarks  upon  this 
subject,  and  some  of  his  records  of  important  facts 
having  been  strangely  overlooked  by  many  writers  ; 
while  one  of  his  most  instructive  testimonies  to  the 
value  and  efficacy  of  excellent  music  in  the  worship 
of  the  Christian  church  has  been  sadly  misconstrued 
by  a  very  learned  divine  of  modern  times.* 

Alluding  to  the  incidents  just  related  above,  con- 
cerning the  efficacy  of  the  Ambrosian  music,  Au- 
gustine had  spoken  of  himself,  as  if  he  might  have 
been  sometimes  too  susceptible  to  the  influence  of 
sweet  sounds,  and  too  fond  of  good  music,  for  its 
own  sake ;  without  due  regard  to  the  sense  of  the 
psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs  of  the  Church. 
He  then  adds  :  "  And  sometimes  immoderately  avoid- 
ing this  mistake,  I  err  with  too  much  severity ;  yea, 


And  that  the  word  vox  is  applied  to  musical  sounds  and  notes,  as  well 
by  classical  writers  as  by  the  ecclesiastical  writers  of  the  age  of  Au- 
gustine, and  of  other  times,  might  be  shown  by  examples  almost  num- 
berless. It  is  thus  applied  to  the  sounds  and  notes  of  musical  instru- 
ments by  Tertullian,  Claudian,  and  Cassiodorus,  in  passages  examined 
in  another  part  of  this  volume.  See  also  Aug.  De  Mus.,  I.,  1,4.  II.  1. 
De  Ord.  II.  15  et  al.,  passim. 

*  Bingham.  Eccl.  Ant.,  B.  XIV.,  c.  I.,  §  16. 


32  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

sometimes  so  greatly,  that  I  wish  all  the  melody  of 
the  sweet  songs  in  which  the  psaltery  of  David  is 
used,*  were  removed  from  my  ears  and  from  the 
whole  church  ;  and  that  seems  to  me  more  safer 
which,  I  remember,  was  often  told  me  concerning 
Athanasius,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  who  made  the 
reader  of  the  psalm  to  sound  it  with  so  small  a  va- 
riation of  toneT  that  it  was  nearer  to  reciting!  than  to 
singing.  Nevertheless,  when  I  remember  my  tears 
which  I  shed  at  the  music  of  thy  church,  in  the  first 


*  The  phrase  here  translated  "psaltery  of  David"  has  been 
sometimes  rendered  "psalter,  or  psalms  of  David."  But  that  it  de- 
notes an  instrument  of  music  would  seem  sufficiently  clear  from  the 
most  obvious  construction  of  the  passage.  The  Latin  is  "  quibus  Da- 
vidicum  psalterium  frequentatur."  This  view  of  the  passage  might  be 
strengthened  by  many  references  to  the  discourses  of  Augustine  on 
the  Psalms.  It  receives  no  small  corroboration  from  the  language  of 
Cassiodorus,  a  studious  reader  and  great  admirer  of  Augustine  (see 
Cave's  Hist.  Lit.  on  Cass.) ,  where,  in  a  description  of  musical  instru- 
ments (Variar.,p.  77,.  8,  Ed.  Par.  1583),  having  said,  "  Let  us  speak 
of  the  psaltery^ psalterio,  which  came  down  from  heaven,"  he  proceeds 
to  speak  of  the  effect  of  David's  playing  before  Saul  as  produced  by 
the  lyre  of  David,  and  uses  the  phrase  "  Davidica  lyra  ;'r  employing 
the  same  epithet  which  Augustine  had  applied  to  the  psalterium. 
To  this  may  be  added  the  authority  of  Facciolati  and  ForellinL 
"  Psalmus,  lit.  psalm,  is  the  sound  of  the  harp  or  lyre,  and  what  is 
sung  to  the  lyre.  By  Christian  writers  it  is  used,  by  antonomasia, 
concerning  the  sacred  hymns,  or  canticles  of  king  David,  because  it 
was  the  custom  to  sing  them  to  the  psaltery,  psalterium,  which  the 
author  himself  is  said  to  have  made."  Hawkins,  too,  in  his  History 
of  Music,  saysr  that  "  Ambrose  joined  instruments  of  music  to  the 
public  service  in  the  church  of  Milan." — Hawk.,  I.,  399.   Higg.  160. 

*  In  other  places  Augustine  seems  to  mean  by  this  word  (pro- 
nuncianti)  what  we  now  call  scanning.  De  Mua.,L.  II.,  c.  l,and 
L.  IV.,  c.  14. 


ITS     UTILITY.  33 

stages  of  my  recovered  faith,  even  now  I  am  moved, 
not  by  the  music,  but  by  the  subjects  of  the  songs ; 
and  when  they  are  sung  with  a  clear  voice  and  a 
very  agreeable  modulation,  I  acknowledge  again  the 
great  utility  of  this  institution.  Thus  I  waver  be- 
tween the  peril  of  pleasure,  and  the  proof  of  benefit ; 
but  am  rather  induced,  not  indeed  pronouncing  an 
irrevocable  judgment,*  to  approve  the  custom  of  sing- 
ing in  the  church  ;  that  through  the  entertainment 
of  the  ears,  the  irresolute  mind  may  rise  to  love  of 
piety.  Yet  when  it  happens  that  the  music  affects 
me  more  than  the  subject  of  the  song,  I  confess  that 
I  sin  grievously ;  and  then  I  wish  not  to  hear  the 
singer."t  How,  in  view  of  what  Augustine  thus  said 
of  the  effect  of  sacred  music  upon  himself,  the  learned 
Bingham,  and  others  after  him,+  could  so  interpret  this 
passage  as  to  make  it  ascribe  mental  weakness  to 
those  who  can  be  allured  by  music, §  it  is  difficult  to 
conceive.  And  the  mistake  of  such  interpreters, 
moreover,  betrays  a  singular  ignorance  of  the  nature 
of  ancient  music,  which  both  as  an  art  and  as  a  sci- 
ence, was  very  intimately  connected  with  literature 
and  philosophy. 

In  striking  accordance  with  the  sentiments  of  the 
passage  last  cited  from  the  confessions  of  Augustine, 
are  many  of  his  observations  in  his  discourses  upon 

*  Hawkins  says  that  he  retracted  it,  but  gives  no  reference  for 
proof  of  the  assertion. 

t  Aug.  Conf.,  L.  X.,  c.  33. 

X  Library  of  Fathers,  Pusey,  Oxf. 

§  The  language  of  Augustine  is,  "  ut  per  oblectamenta  aurium 
infirmior  animus  in  affectum  pietatis  assurgat." 
2* 


34  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

the  Psalms.  And  in  one  of  those  discourses  is  to  be 
found  the  most  remarkable  observation  recorded  by 
any  ancient  writer  on  the  subject  of  music.  "  Those 
who  sing,"  he  says,  "  whether  in  harvest,  or  in  the 
vineyard,  or  in  any  engrossing  work,  when  they  be- 
gin in  the  words  of  sacred  songs  to  exult  with  joy, 
as  if  filled  with  so  great  joy  that  they  cannot  express 
it  in  words,  turn  themselves  from  the  syllables  of 
words,  and  go  into  a  sound  of  jubilation.  A  jubilant 
sound,  indeed,  signifies  that  the  heart  labors  with 
what  it  cannot  express  in  words.  And  whom  does 
such  jubilation  become,  if  not  the  ineffable  God  ? 
For  He  is  ineffable,  whom  you  cannot  describe.  And 
if  you  cannot  describe  Him,  and  may  not  be  silent, 
what  remains,  except  that  you  make  a  joyful  noise  ? 
So  the  heart  may  rejoice  without  words,  and  its  un- 
speakable joys  must  not  be  confined  by  syllables."* 

Now  it  cannot  well  be  supposed  that  one  so  fond 
of  good  music  as  Augustine,  would  under  any  cir- 
cumstances encourage  or  tolerate  the  discordant  noise 
of  a  mere  jumble  of  notes  or  sounds,  without  order 
and  method,  or  regard  to  the  principles  of  music. 
For  in  a  certain  placet  he  goes  so  far  as  to  compare 
discord  in  singing  to  heresy  and  schism  in  doctrine 
and  discipline.  His  idea,  therefore,  so  earnestly  ex- 
pressed in  the  passage  just  cited,  seems,  above  any 
thing  else  extant  in  ancient  writings,  to  have  devel- 
oped, at  a  period  comparatively  remote,  the  germs  of 
many  modern  improvements  in  music ;  not  only  of 
those  refinements  by  which  many  notes  are  often  ap- 

*  Aug.  on  Ps.  xxxii.,  cone.  I.  t  Ps.  cxlix. 


ITS     TENDENCY.  35 

plied  to  single  syllables  by  divisions  commonly  called 
slurs,  but  also  of  "  florid  counterpoint,"  or  a  compli- 
cated movement  of  several  melodies,  concordant  but 
not  wholly  coincident,  and  of  the  symphonious  clash 
of  numerous  and  various  instruments,  combined  in 
one  loud  roar  of  notes  of  jubilation.  So  true  is  this, 
that  a  complete  view  of  the  progress  of  music  in  the 
age  of  Augustine,  and  of  his  influence  and  that  of 
his  contemporaries  in  the  promotion  of  this  science, 
can  hardly  be  taken  without  some  reference  to  im- 
provements which  were  consummated  at  a  much 
later  period.  Here,  therefore,  it  will  be  proper  to 
consider  briefly  the  most  prominent  facts  relative  to 
the  invention  of  the  organ  and  its  introduction  into 
Christian  worship.  And  an  interesting  passage  in 
Augustine's  exposition  of  the  150th  Psalm  affords  the 
best  basis  to  be  found  in  ancient  writings  for  an  ap- 
propriate view  of  those  facts. 

Commenting  on  the  words,  "Praise  Him  with 
stringed  instruments  and  organs,"  he  says,  "  Organ 
is  a  general  name  of  all  musical  instruments,  al- 
though now  a  custom  hath  obtained,  that  those  are 
particularly  called  organs,  which  are  blown  with  the 
bellows  ;  which  kind  I  do  not  think  to  be  designated 
here.  For  since  organ  is  a  Greek  term,  comi:;  >a,  as 
I  have  said,  to  all  musical  instruments,  this  to  which 
the  bellows  are  added  the  Greeks  call  by  another 
name.  But  that  it  be  called  organ  is  rather  the 
Latin  usage,  and  that  common  usage  is  well  esta- 
blished. Because  therefore  he  says  on  strings  and 
organ,  he  seems  to  me  to  have  wished  to  designate 
some  instrument  (organum)  which  may  have  strings." 


36  MUSIC    AS     IT     WAS, 

He  then  goes  on  to  make  a  somewhat  fanciful  but 
interesting  remark  respecting  the  spiritual  significancy 
of  the  strings  of  the  psaltery,  or  any  similar  instru- 
ment, "  because  they  were  flesh,  but  are  now  freed 
from  corruption."  But  what  is  most  worthy  of  notice 
is  the  fact,  that  about  that  time,  a  word  which  had 
before  been  a  general  name  for  all  instruments,  be- 
came a  specific  term,  and  began  to  be  applied  to  a 
particular  instrument,  or  at  least  to  a  particular  class- 
of  instruments.  This  simple  fact  is  of  great  conse- 
quence7  as  respects  the  date  of  the  invention  of  a 
particular  instrument  of  that  class.  It  is  far  more 
important  than  any  description  of  such  instruments 
in  detail,  under  other  names  •  especially  when  it  is 
considered  that  Augustine,  in  other  places,  speaks  of 
the  organ  which  was  blown  with  the  bellows  as 
large,*  and  implies  that  it  was  adapted  to  accompany 
singing,  and  yet  also  uses  the  word  organ  in  its  gen- 
eral sense,  as  applicable  to  all  instruments.!  What- 
ever, therefore,  may  have  been  the  form  or  structure 
of  the  instrument  to  which  the  general  term  organ 
had  just  then  begun  to  be  specifically  applied,  there 
can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  sentiments  of 
the  most  prominent  among  the  Latin  fathers  of  thai 


*  Mason,  as  cited  by  Latrobe,  p.  346,  reads  slender  instead  of 
large;  having  evidently  by  mistake  substituted  gracile  for  grande. 
The  latter  word  is  found  in  the  Benedictine  edition,  and  doubtless  in? 
most  others.  For  the  word  gracile,  slender,  could  in  no  way  be 
made  distinctive  of  an  organ,  large  or  small,  being  much  more  appli- 
cable to  many  other  instruments.  Ps.  lvi.,  i.  e.  lvii.  of  the  modern 
division. 

t  Pn  xli.  lxv.  lxix.  cxlvi.  et  al. 


* '  I  F  T  H     CENTURY.  37 

age,  concerning  the  use  of  instrumental  music,  were 
such  as  the  elegant  Prudentius  expressed  to  this  effect : 

**  Whate'er  in  hollow  brass  aloud  the  crooked  trumpet  roars, 
Whate'er,  with  deep-drawn  blast  amain,  its  clarion  voice  outpours, 
Discant,  that  gently  trills  what  lyre  and  modest  lute  attend, 
Concordant  notes,  which  shepherds'  pipes  of  reeds  unequal  blend, 
Re-echoed  shrill  from  rival  caves  in  loud  response  around, 
All  Jesus  celebrate,  all  Christ,  in  full  acclaim,  resound  ; 
Yea,  all  things,  even  mute,  attuned  by  His  inspiring  name, 
In  concert  with  the  sacred  harp  the  praise  of  Christ  proclaim."* 

In  this  translation,  given  to  avoid  the  insertion  of 
a  Latin  sentence  in  the  body  of  the  argument,  the 

*  Quicquid  in  acre  cavo  (a)  reboans  tuba  curva  remugit, 
Quicquid  in  arcano  vomit  ingens  spiritus  haustu, 
Quicquid  casta  chelys,  quicquid  testudo  resultat, 
Organa  disparibus  calamis  (b)  quod  consona  miscent, 
Aemula  pastorum  quod  reddunt  vocibus  antra,  (c) 
Christum  concelebrat,  Christum  sonat,  omnia  Christum, 
Muta  etiam  fidibus  Sanctis  animata  loquuntur.  (d) 

Apotheosis.  Poem.  III.,  vs.  66-72.  Valpy's  Classics, 

(a)  "  Dat  signum  specula  Misenus  ab  alta 
Aere  cavo:y—Virg.  Jien.  III.  238,  9. 

(i)  Atque  ita  disparibus  calamis  compagine  cerae." — Ot.  Met.  I.  711. 

"  Sic  rustica  quondam 
Fistula  disparibus  paulatim  surgit  avenis." — Id.,  L.  VIII.,  191,  2, 

w  Disparibus  septcm  compacta  cicutis 
Fistula.''—  Vira.  Ec.  II.  3(3.  37, 

*  Calamis  agrestibus  insonat  ille,"  i.  e.  Pan. — Ovid.,  L.  XL,  ](Jl. 

(c)  "  Aut  fessus  sub  opaca  revertitur  antra,"  i.  e  Polyphemus. 

w  Sumptaque  arundinibus  compacta  est  fistula  centum  ; 
Seflserunt  toti  pastoria  sibila  montes, 
Senserunt  undae."^W.,  L.  XIII.,  777,  784-G. 

(rf)  The  Biblioth.  Vet.  Patr.  Ed.  De  La  Bigne,  Paris,  1624,  reads  loquanlur 
and  in  the  preceding  line  concelebret  and  sonct. 


38  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

word  which  is  rendered  by  the  phrase  "  shepherds' 
pipes"  literally  signifies  organs.  It  is  the  plural  of 
the  Latin  word  organum,  which,  as  Augustine  de- 
clares, had  been  at  that  time  applied  to  the  large  in- 
strument blown  with  the  bellows.  But  in  view  of 
the  strict  regard  which  Prudentius  always  paid  to 
classical  phraseology,  so  far  as  it  was  attainable  at 
that  period,  his  connection  of  this  word  with  a  classi- 
cal phrase  of  very  definite  and  uniform  signification, 
would  seem  to  restrict  it  in  this  place  to  the  instru- 
ment which  is  commonly  described  by  the  term 
"  Pan's  pipes."  The  learned  Suicer,*  indeed,  ascribes 
to  Prudentius  a  very  remarkable  description  in  prose, 
of  an  "  organ  which  was  so  large  that  a  man  could 
hide  in  it,  and  gave  sounds  soothing  to  the  ears  and 
hearts  of  all,  above  every  other  human  means  ;"  ex- 
citing "an  importunate  curiosity,  whether,  perchance, 
there  was  any  one,  within  or  without,  who  could 
pour  forth  such  sweetly  flowing  harmony."  But 
Suicer  gives  no  reference  to  the  passage  in  the 
writings  of  Prudentius.  It  seems  also  to  have  been 
overlooked  by  the  most  celebrated  writers  of  the  his- 
tory of  music.  And  it  is  not  easily  found  without  a 
reference.  Moreover,  its  defects,  in  point  of  phrase- 
ology and  perspicuity,  in  some  parts,  stamp  it  as 
hardly  worthy  of  the  Christian  Pindar.t     Probably 

*  Thesaur.  Eccles.,  verb,  opyavov. 

t  In  addition  to  what  has  been  given  above  in  a  very  literal  trans- 
lation, the  passage  contains,  according  to  Suicer,  the  following  inele- 
gant and  almost  unintelligible  Latin  :  "  Verum  veraciter  deprehensum 
est  adore  et  canore,  quod  turn  etiam  descendit  in  jubilatione  qui  as- 
cendit  in  jubilatione." 


THE     HYDEAULUI.  39 

an  instrument,  which  might  in  that  age  be  justly- 
described  by  some  such  terms,  had  been  long  known 
among  the  Greeks,  in  the  form  of  the  hydraulum, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  actual  structure  of 
the  very  ambiguous  machine,  to  which  that  name 
was  applied.  And  the  Romans  of  the  age  of  Ammi- 
anus  Marcellinus*  seem  to  have  realized,  to  some 
extent,  in  the  noisy  water-organs  with  which  their 
theatres  and  palaces  were  furnished,  the  fable  of 
Polyphemus,  with  his  huge  whistle  of  a  hundred  pipes 
instead  of  seven.  A  very  remarkable  description  of 
those  instruments  was  given  by  Tertullian  as  early 
as  the  beginning  of  the  third  century.  "  Behold," 
he  says,  "the  prodigious  munificence  of  Archimedes; 
I  mean  the  hydraulic  organ ;  so  many  members,  so 
many  parts,  so  many  joints,  so  many  channels  of 
notes,!  so  many  contrivances  of  sound,  so  many 
changes  of  modes,  so  many  ranks  of  pipes,  and  all 
shall  be  one  great  whole.  And  the  wind  which 
breathes  forth  from  the  racking  of  the  water  shall 
not  therefore  be  separated  into  parts  because  it  is 
administered  by  parts,  being  whole  indeed  in  sub- 
stance, but  divided  in  operation."  X 

But  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  from  this  description 
any  very  definite  idea  of  the  structure  and  operation 
of  the  famous  water-organ  of  the  ancients.  Proba- 
bly the  description  of  an  organ  given  in  a  question- 
able portion  of  the  writings  sometimes  ascribed  to 


*  As  cited  by  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  V.,  p.  276. 

t  Vocum. 

X  De  Aniraa,  p.  273.  Ed.  Rigalt.,  Paris,  1675. 


40  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS, 

Chrysostom,*  relates  to  the  same  instrument.  And 
it  is  scarcely  less  remarkable  than  that  of  Tertullian. 

But  the  most  notable  of  all  such  descriptions  of 
the  ancient  organ  is  given  in  the  Greek  epigram, 
ascribed  to  the  emperor  Julian.  His  language  lite- 
rally translated,  is  this  :  "I  see  a  new  kind  of  reeds; 
doubtless  they  shoot  forth  uncultivated  very  quickly 
from  another  brazen  soil ;  nor  are  they  agitated  by 
our  winds  ;  but  a  blast  springing  forth  from  a  lea- 
thern cavern  goes  beneath  the  well-bored  reeds,t  un- 
der the  roots  ;  and  a  certain  brave  man, J  having 
swift  fingers,  stands  handling  the  consentient  rods§ 
of  the  pipes ;  and  they  springing  gently  give  out  a 
song."  This  seems,  at  first  sight,  much  like  a  de- 
scription of  the  modern  organ.  But  the  very  similar 
language  of  Claudian,||  at  a  later  period,  manifestly 
relates  to  the  hydraulum  or  water-organ.    It  is  this : 

"And  he  who  forcing  out  loud  sounds  with  a 
light  touch,  modulates  %  the  numberless  notes**  of  the 
brazen  crop, ft  thunders  with  his  finger  creeping  here 
and  there,U  and  with  the  lever  like  a  beam  stirs  up 
to  songs  the  deeply  troubled  waters." 

Since  then  Augustine,  at  the  same  period,  said 
expressly  that  the  organ  to  which  the  bellows  were 
added  the  Greeks  called  by  another  name,  it  would 
seem  that  up  to  that  period  the  bellows  may  have 
been  connected  in  some  way  with  the  hydraulum^ 

*  Serm.  de  Dicto  Abrah.  t  evrp-itTuiv  KaXdfx'jov. 

X  avr)p  ayepwxos.  §  K.av6vas  avficppaS/xovas. 

||  Panegyr.  Mall.  Theod.,  316-19. 

IT   Modulatur,  or  moderatur.  **  Voces. 

ft  i.  e.  of  reeds.         -  tt  Erranti  digito. 


ANCIENT    OEGAN.  41 

or  water-organ  of  Archimedes  and  Ctesibius.  Nor 
can  any  more  definite  account  of  an  instrument  simi- 
lar to  the  modern  organ  be  traced  higher  than  the  age 
of  Cassiodorus,  who,  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century,  wrote  thus  :  "  The  organ  is  a  kind  of  tower 
constructed  with  divers  pipes,  from  which  by  the 
blast  of  bellows  a  very  full  sound  is  given  out ;  and 
that  a  becoming  modulation  may  adorn  it,  from  the 
interior  part  it  is  furnished  with  certain  wooden 
tongues  ;*  and  the  fingers  of  masters  skilfully  press- 
ing t  these,  make  a  very  loud  and  pleasant  tune."t 
And  from  the  age  of  Cassiodorus  it  is  exceedingly 
difficult  to  trace  with  precision  the  history  of  the 
modern  organ,  previous  to  the  period  in  which  the 
science  of  harmony,  dependent  in  a  great  degree 
upon  the  improvement  of  that  instrument,  began  to 
be  cultivated. 

In  passing,  however,  to  that  important  period  in 
the  progress  of  music,  it  is  worth  while  to  take  notice 
of  yet  another  very  remarkable  passage  in  the  com- 
ment of  Augustine  on  the  150th  Psalm. 

In  addition  to  his  singular  reason,  already  given, 
for  the  opinion  that  the  Hebrew  word  translated  in 
some  Latin  and  Greek  versions  by  the  term  organ, 
orga?io,  denoted  an  instrument  of  strings,  he  says  : 
"  Perhaps  he  [the  Psalmist]  added  the  word  organ, 
organum,  to  indicate  that  the  strings  should  not 
sound  singly,  but  that  they  should  sound  together  in 
a  most  concordant  diversity,  as  if  they  were  arranged 
in  an  organ,  organo. 

*  Linguis.  t  Reprimentes.  X  Cassiod.  on  Ps.  cl. 


42  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

For  the  sacred  persons  of  the  Godhead  have  their 
consonant,  and  not  discordant,  differences,  that  is, 
consenting  and  not  disagreeing  ;  as  there  may  be  the 
most  pleasant  music  from  sounds  diverse,  indeed, 
but  not  inconsistent."* 

This,  now,  is  by  far  the  most  definite  description 
of  harmony,  as  distinguished  from  melody,  that  can 
be  found  in  any  ancient  writings,  either  of  the  Greeks 
or  the  Latins.  It  implies  not  merely  a  casual  occur- 
rence, or  an  occasional  introduction,  of  the  most 
practicable  concords  of  two  principal  notes  ;  such  as 
must  have  taken  place  frequently  in  all  music,  how- 
ever uncultivated ;  sometimes  even  by  the  uninten- 
tional union  of  the  key-note  and  the  fifth,  or  the  fourth 
above.  It  refers  explicitly  to  a  threefold  concord  of 
sounds  ;  such  as  really  constitutes  full  and  complete 
harmony,  in  all  ordinary  strains  of  modern  counter- 
point, or  music  in  parts.  And  with  such  views  of 
the  nature  of  the  most  agreeable  and  perfect  music, 
not  only  Augustine  and  his  contemporaries,  but  other 
zealous  Christians  also,  amid  all  the  impediments  of 
the  dark  and  dreary  period  between  the  seventh  and 
the  thirteenth  century,  labored  according  to  their 
ability  and  opportunities  for  the  advancement  of  sa- 
cred music  ;  which,  requiring  at  times  the  union  of 
many  voices,  of  old  and  young,  and  men  and  wo- 
men, constantly  suggested  the  importance  of  the  best 
mode  of  uniting  voices  of  various  sounds  and  widely 
diverse  pitch.  Thus  at  various  intervals,  during 
that  period,  not  only  on  the  continent,  where  Chris- 

*  Comp.  Aug.  De  Mus.,  L.  VI.,  fin. 


ITS     RESULTS.  43 

tianity  had  received  a  severe  shock,  as  well  from  its 
great  enemy  Mohammedism  as  from  its  own  inter- 
nal corruptions  and  consequent  declension,  but  also 
in  England,  among  a  people. previously  quite  rude 
and  almost  barbarous,  the  efforts  of  musicians  were 
earnestly  directed  to  the  cultivation  of  harmony,  in  the 
form  of  plain  counterpoint,  or  two  or  three  parts,  in 
concordant  and  corresponding  notes  ;  and  also  to  the 
invention  of  a  more  perfect  system  for  keeping  time 
than  was  furnished  by  ancient  music.  Such  a  sys- 
tem of  musical  time,  commonly  called  "the  time- 
table," was  invented,  according  to  some  writers,  in 
the  eleventh  century,  and  perfected,  as  others  assert, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth.*  Finally,  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  the  discovery  or  invention,  by  an 
Englishman,!  of  "florid  counterpoint  or  figurative 
harmony,"  consisting  of  "three  or  four  melodies 
moving  together  in  consonance,"  and  the  admission, 
preparation  and  resolution  of  discords,  opened  the 
way,  and  laid  the  track,  for  a  very  rapid  advance- 
ment of  music,  both  as  a  science  and  as  an  art.  And 
thus,  from  the  eventful  period  of  the  Reformation  to 
the  present  day,  the  cultivation  of  music  has  formed 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  characteristics  of  Chris- 
tian civilization. 

"  Here,  then,"  in  the  eloquent  language  of  Jones 
of  Nayland,  "  let  all  the  admirers  of  the  musical  art 
stop  awhile  to  reflect  with  gratitude  and  devotion, 
that  the  invention  of  choral  harmony  in  parts  arose 


*  Burney,  II.,  175.    Hawkins,  II.,  152. 
t  Dunstable  ;  Burney,  Vol.  II.,  108,  9,  451. 


4A  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

from  the  Trinitarian  worship  of  the  Christian  church. 
It  is  certain  we  have  no  music  of  that  form  extant  in 
the  world,  but  such  as  is  Christian ;  nor  do  we  read 
of  any ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  schools  of  music 
established  and  maintained  by  the  Church,  I  will 
venture  to  say,  there  had,  at  this  day,  been  none  of 
that  excellent  music,  with  which  all  of  us  are  now 
charmed,  and  I  hope  many  of  us  edified.  Look  out 
of  Christendom  into  the  kingdoms  of  China,  Tar- 
tary,  Turkey,  and  the  regions  of  the  southern  world, 
and  you  will  find  no  music  but  what  is  beggarly 
and  barbarous,  fit  only  to  amuse  the  ears  of  children 
or  savages.  Every  thing  that  is  great  and  excellent 
in  this  way  hath  come  down  to  us  from  the  Christian 
church.  Oh,  holy  and  blessed  society,  which  hath 
thus  introduced  us  to  all  that  we  can  know  and  feel 
of  Heaven  itself !  How  shall  we  celebrate  thee,  how 
shall  we  cultivate  and  adorn  thee,  according  to  what 
we  have  derived  from  thee  ?  Let  others'  be  indiffer- 
ent if  they  will  to  our  forms  of  worship ;  but  upon 
musicians,  if  they  know  themselves,  religion  hath  a 
particular  demand  ;  for  they  would  never  have  been 
what  they  are,  if  God,  in  His  infinite  goodness,  had 
not  brought  us  to  the  improvements  of  the  gospel."* 
This  true  view  of  the  connection  of  cultivated 
music,  in  modern  times,  with  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity, is  very  forcibly  illustrated  by  the  history 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  Among  the  means  em- 
ployed for  the  improvement  of  the  people  of  Eng- 
land by  the  zealous  Austin  in  the  seventh  century, 

*  Sermon  L.  Lond.  1829. 


ENGLISH     MUSIC.  45 

and  by  the  pious  and  enlightened  Alfred  in  the  ninth, 
sacred  music  was  very  prominent.  And  in  connec- 
tion with  this  interesting  fact,  the  ascription  of  some 
of  the  greatest  of  modern  improvements  in  music  to 
Englishmen  of  various  periods*  is  very  instructive. 

*  Bede,  Dunstable  and  De  Muris.  Hawkins  shows,  Vol.  I.,  p.  406, 
that  simple  counterpoint,  of  note  against  note,  was  practised  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  England,  in  the  days  of  Bede,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eighth  century.  Burney  largely  demonstrates,  Vol.  II.,  pp. 
108,  193,  451,  that  Dunstable  was,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  a  principal 
promoter  of  florid  counterpoint  and  kindred  improvements.  And  it 
appears  from  Hawkins,  Vol.  II.,  p.  140,  that  John  De  Muris,  who 
contributed  much  to  the  perfection  of  the  time-table,  was  a  native  of 
England.  In  connection  with  these  facts,  it  is  worth  while  to  re- 
mark further,  that  traces  of  rude  harmony  or  music  in  parts  have  been 
found  by  others  in  the  music  of  the  Britons,  at  an  early  period. 
(Burney,  Vol.  II.,  p.  108)  And  for  further  proof  that  the  people  of 
Northern  Europe  have  long  possessed  a  full  share  of  the  elements  of 
good  music,  there  may  be  noted  the  suggestion  of  Giraldus  Cam- 
brensis,  that  "  the  Britons  might  have  received  harmony  in  its  first 
stages  from  the  Dacians  or  Norwegians."     Hawk.,  I.,  409. 


CHAPTER  II. 

PRESENT    STATE     OF    MUSIC. 

For  an  appropriate  discussion,  in  the  next  place, 
of  the  present  state  of  music,  it  will  be  most  pro- 
per to  rely  mainly  upon  a  general  view  of  its  con- 
dition in  this  country  and  our  father-land  since  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century;  the  period  at 
which  the  Guidonian*  system  of  notation  now  in 
use  may  be  said  to  have  been  settled  and  esta- 
blished. In  a  certain  sense,  the  present  state  of 
music  in  general,  sacred  and  secular,  embraces  its 
whole  condition  since  that  period  ;  in  other  words, 
the  several  stages  of  the  modern  system,  from  the 
date  of  its  full  establishment.  And  in  a  still  stricter 
sense,  a  general  view  of  the  present  state  of  sacred 
music  may  well  be  carried  back  to  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century ;  very  little  improvement  having 
been  made  hitherto  upon  the  compositions  of  some 
of  the  oldest  masters  of  the  reformed  Church  of  Eng- 

*  So  called  from  its  projector,  Guido. 


COMPARATIVE     VIEW.  47 

land,  as  respects  the  chief  characteristics  of  good 
music  for  sacred  use.  This  point,  therefore,  may  be 
most  fitly  considered  in  a  two-fold  comparative  view, 
embracing  at  once  a  comparison  of  sacred  music  with 
secular  since  the  Reformation,  and  also  of  the  sacred 
music  of  that  period  with  that  of  these  days. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  worthy  of  consideration  in 
various  points  of  view,  that  in  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, during  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  music  of  the  Church  of  England  was,  according 
to  the  uniform  testimony  of  writers  of  every  class, 
quite  superior  to  the  secular  music  of  that  country, 
and  equal  to  the  music  of  any  other  nation.  Strik- 
ing testimony  to  this  fact  is  recorded  by  Strype,* 
where  he  relates,  that  when  Queen  Elizabeth  was 
entertained  at  Canterbury  by  Archbishop  Parker,  the 
French  ambassador,  who  was  in  her  company,  hearing 
the  excellent  music  in  the  cathedral,  extolled  it  most 
highly,  declaring  that  he  thought  no  prince  beside 
in  all  Europe,  not  even  the  Pope,  ever  heard  the  like. 
But  lest  this  remark  of  a  French  courtier  should  be 
ascribed  by  any  to  a  characteristic  spirit  of  flattery, 
it  may  be  added  that  the  testimony  of  all  writers  is 
to  the  same  effect.  That  of  the  most  celebrated  his- 
torian of  music,  the  learned  Doctor  Burney,  is  pe- 
culiarly conclusive  ;  not  only  upon  this  point  of  the 
excellence  of  sacred  music  in  England  at  that  period, 
but.  upon  all  the  other  points  embraced  in  this  view 
of  the  present  state  of  music. 

With  manifest  prepossessions  in  favor  of  secular 

*  Ann.,  Vol.  II,  p.  314. 


48  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

music,*  he  makes,  in  a  certain  place,  the  sweeping 
assertion,  that  "  it  seems  as  if  ecclesiastical  music 
was  always  inferior  to  secular  at  any  given  period ; 
and  that  the  mutilated  scales  of  the  eight  modes  in 
Canto  Fermo  had  not  only  injured  melody,  but  that 
bad  harmony  had  continued  in  the  church  long  after 
it  had  ceased  to  be  tolerated  elsewhere.''!  And  yet 
he  gives  a  voluminous  detail  of  facts  which  clearly 
show,  and  some  reflections  which  expressly  admit, 
that  the  music  of  the  Church  of  England  was  not 
only  superior  to  the  secular  music  of  that  country 
in  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIIL,  Edward  VI.,  Elizabeth, 
James  I.  and  Charles  I.,  but  also  equal  to  the  music 
of  any  other  country  during  the  period  included 
within  those  reigns.  In  the  same  manner  he  shows 
as  clearly,  though  less  fully,  that  secular  music  was 
quite  inferior  to  ecclesiastical  at  certain  times  in  all 
countries  of  Europe.  And  the  principal  links  in  the 
chain  of  testimony,  by  which  he  establishes  these 
points,  and  entirely  overthrows  his  own  unaccounta- 
bly rash  assertion  of  the  universal  superiority  of 
secular  music,  deserve  a  place  in  this  view  of  the 
present  state  of  music. 

The  important  chain  of  testimony  thus  prepared 
with  much  care  by  a  very  diligent  and  discriminat- 
ing writer,  whose  reputation  and  ability  emboldened 
him  sometimes  to  nod,  may  be  best  introduced  with 
a  remark  by  which  he  illustrates  the  fact,  that  "  till 
the  Reformation  little  other  music  was  known  or 
practised  than  that  of  the  church,}:  "  and  that  among 

*  Vol.  II.,  p.  6.         t  Vol.  II.,  p.  166,  note.         I  Vol.  II.,  p.  59. 


MIDDLE     AGES.'  49 

ecclesiastics  the  best  singer  was  esteemed  the  most 
learned  man."* 

"  It  does  not  appear,"  he  says,  "  that  in  the  dark 
ages  of  ignorance  and  superstition  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
who  then  possessed  the  chief  part  of  our  island,  were 
more  barbarous  than  the  rest  of  Europe,  Italy  ex- 
cepted. Indeed,  no  works  of  taste  or  genius  in  the 
polite  arts  appear  to  have  been  produced  at  this  time, 
in  any  part  of  it ;  and  as  to  music  consisting  merely 
of  such  chants  as  were  applied  to  the  psalms  and 
hymns  of  the  church,  it  seems  to  have  been  practised 
as  much  and  as  successfully  in  our  country  as  in 
any  other ;  for  since  the  time  that  Austin,  the  first 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  his  successor  Theo- 
dore, the  first  primate  of  all  England,  with  his  as- 
sistant, Adrian  the  monk,  established  the  Roman 
chant  in  England,  our  Canto  Fermo,  if  we  may  be- 
lieve the  monkish  historians,  was  cultivated  and 
taught  by  a  number  of  the  most  ingenious  clergy 
of  the  time,  who  they  tell  us  were  well  skilled  in 
music."t 

This  paragraph  was  written  by  the  learned  his- 
torian before  he  made  his  strange  assertion  of  the 
universal  inferiority  of  sacred  music.  But  having 
soon  afterwards  made  it,  he  yet  goes  on  almost  im- 
mediately to  prove  again  further,  that  for  a  con- 
siderable period  subsequent  to  the  dark  ages,  in 
England  at  least,  sacred  music  was  far  in  advance 
of  secular. 

Declaring  that  he  had  never  been  so  fortunate  as 

*  Vol.  II.,  P.  62.  t  Id.,  p,  68. 

3 


50  MUSIC    AS     IT     WAS. 

to  meet  with  a  single  tune  to  an  English  song  or 
dance,  in  all  the  libraries  and  manuscripts  which  he 
had  consulted,  so  ancient  as  the  fourteenth  century,- 
he  adds  :  "  Musical  tracts,  indeed,  and  ecclesiastical 
chants  abound  of  that  and  a  still  higher  period  ;  but 
till  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  all  our 
secular  music  has  perished.  However,  if  we  may 
judge  by  what  has  escaped  the  ravages  of  time  of  a 
later  date,  the  loss  of  our  musical  compositions  of 
this  period  may  be  supported  without  much  afflic- 
tion."* 

In  the  same  part  of  his  work  he  shows  that  in 
other  countries  of  Europe,  the  comparison  was,  if 
possible,  still  more  favorable  to  sacred  music.  This 
is  his  language. 

"  Earlier  proofs  of  correct  counterpoint,  learned 
fugue,  and  ingenious  contrivance,  can  be  produced 
by  the  Netherlander,  Germans,  French  and  English, 
than  by  the  natives  of  Italy  ;  who  seem  at  first  to  be 
stimulated  to  the  study  of  counterpoint  in  different 
parts  of  Italy  by  the  precepts  and  examples  of  for- 
eigners.'^ 

"  The  examples  of  counterpoint  in  other  coun- 
tries are  entirely  confined  to  church  music ;  and  of 
any  other  kind,  I  have  been  able  to  find  but  little 
either  in  print  or  manuscript  of  higher  antiquity  than 
near  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  ;  yet  I  have 
not  only  seen  masses  in  four,  five  and  six  parts  com- 
posed by  the  natives  of  England,  which  aie  equally 
ancient  with  those  on  the  continent,  but  secular  songs 

*  Vol.  II.,  p.  381,2.  t  Id.,  p.  519. 


TURKISH     MUSIC.  51 

in  our  own  language,  of  two  and  three  parts,  and  in 
good  counterpoint,  of  the  fifteenth  and  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century/'* 

Lest,  however,  this  last  extract  should  seem,  for 
a  moment,  about  to  turn  the  scale  in  favor  of  secular 
music  in  England,  two  others  must  be  given  from 
the  same  portion  of  the  second  volume. 

"  It  is  related  by  Gio.  Battista  Donado,  that  the 
Turks  have  a  limited  number  of  tunes,  to  which  the 
poets  of  their  country  have  continued  to  write  verses 
for  many  ages  ;  and  the  vocal  music  of  our  own 
country  seems  to  have  been  equally  circumscribed ; 
for  till  the  last  century  it  seems  as  if  our  secular  and 
popular  melodies  did  not  greatly  exceed  those  of  the 
Turks.rt 

"  But  however  inelegant,  uncouth  and  imperfect 
our  lyric  compositions  may  have  been,  till  after  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  our  counterpoint  and 
church  music  arrived  at  a  perfection  with  respect  to 
art,  contrivance  and  correct  harmony,  about  that 
time,  which  at  least  equalled  the  best  of  any  other 
country."! 

Farther  testimony  to  the  same  effect  he  gives  in 
these  terms  : — "  There  are  some  excellent  composi- 
tions by  Parsons  in  the  manuscripts  of  Christ  Church 
College,  but  we  have  already  exhibited  several  spe- 
cimens of  church  music  which  do  honor  to  the 
harmonical  skill  of  our  countrymen,  if  not  to  their 
teste."! 


*  Vol.  II.,  p.  359.  t  Id.,  p.  553. 

t  Id.,  p.  554.  §  Id.,  p.  567. 


52  MUSIC    AS    IT    WAS. 

"  If  the  songs  in  the  Fairfax  manuscript  be  ex- 
cepted, but  little  of  our  secular  music  is  preserved ; 
however,  there  must  have  been  plenty  of  it,  such  as 
it  was."* 

Such  is  the  substance  of  the  testimony  by  which 
the  learned  Doctor's  history,  thus  far,  illustrates — - 
not  to  corroborate^  but  utterly  to  contradict— his  hasty 
assertion,  that  "  it  seems  as  if  ecclesiastical  music 
was  always  inferior  at  any  given  time  to  secular 
music."  Whether  he  had  any  better  ground  for  his 
farther  assertion,  that  "bad  harmony  continued  in 
the  church  long  after  it  had  ceased  to  be  tolerated 
elsewhere,"  is  a  question  which  depends  mainly 
upon  the  testimony  subsequently  introduced,  with 
regard  to  a  period  when  secular  music,  preserved, 
nurtured,  and  richly  endowed  by  the  vast  improve- 
ments in  sacred  music  which  took  place  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  began  to  assume 
the  position  and  character  of  an  independent  depart- 
ment in  the  modern  system. 

With  regard  to  this  period,  Dr.  Burney  asserts, 
once  without  any  qualification,  and  again  with 
scarcely  less  confidence,  that  "  when  Queen  Eliza- 
beth ascended  the  throne,  a  school  of  counterpoint 
was  formed  in  England,  that  was  equal  at  least  to 
that  of  any  other  part  of  Europe."  t  And  in  one  of 
the  places  alluded  to,  he  adds,  "  We  can  produce 
such  proofs  of  great  abilities  in  the  compositions  of 
our  countrymen,  as  candid  judges  must  allow  to 

*  Vol.  II.,  p.  567.  t  Id.,  p.  583. 


SIXTEENTH     CENTURY.  53 

abound  in  every  kind  of  excellence  that  was  then 
known  or  expected."* 

Again,  he  says :  "  Church  music  was  nowhere 
more  successfully  cultivated  than  in  England;"! 
and  yet  again  :  "I  have  been  able  to  find,  in  all  my 
researches,  no  choral  compositions  in  other  parts  of 
Europe,  of  equal  antiquity,  superior  to  those  which 
have  been  preserved  of  Tallis  and  Bird,  the  pride 
of  our  country,  and  honor  of  their  profession."  t 
"Indeed,"  he  adds,  "both  must  have  been  great 
performers  on  the  organ,  to  have  been  able  to  play 
such  of  their  pieces  for  that  instrument  as  are  still 
preserved,  in  which  the  passages,  though  awkward 
to  performers  who  are  only  accustomed  to  modern 
music,  must  have  been  suggested  by  hands  that 
were  habituated  to  the  complicated  and  now  almost 
invincible  difficulties  of  the  sixteenth  century."§ 

Immediately  afterwards,  speaking  of  certain  com- 
positions of  Bird,  he  says,  "  They  are  equally  grave 
and  solemn  with  those  of  Palestrina  to  the  same 
words,  and  seem  in  no  respect  inferior  to  the  choral 
works  of  that  great  master."  || 

He  also  introduces  the  testimony  of  another  wri- 
ter, who  says,  "  I  am  sure  none  excel  Mr.  William 
Bird,  even  by  the  judgment  of  France  and  Italy, 
who  are  very  sparing  in  their  commendations  of 
strangers.  His  Cantiones  Sacrae,  also  his  Gradualia, 
are  mere  angelical  and  divine ;  yet  his  Virginella 
and  some  others  in  the  first  set  cannot  be  mended 
by  the  first  Italian  of  them  all."H 

*  Vol.  III.,  P.  13.  t  Id.,  P.  65.  t  Id.,  p.  71. 

§  Id.,  p.  83.  ||  Id.,  p.  84.  IT  Id.,  p.  93. 


54  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

This  celebrated  composer,  and  others  of  the  same 
period,  though  mainly  employed  in  the  promotion  of 
Sacred  Music,  did  much  for  the  cultivation  and  ad- 
vancement of  secular  and  instrumental.  Of  their 
pieces  for  instruments,  Dr.  Barney  speaks  in  very 
strong  terms  thus  : 

"  If  her  Majesty  was  ever  able  to  execute  any 
of  the  pieces  that  are  preserved  in  a  manuscript  that 
goes  under  the  name  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  Virginal 
Book,  she  must  have  been  a  very  great  player  ;  as 
some  of  those  pieces  which  were  composed  by  Tallis, 
Bird,  Giles,  Farnaby,  Dr.  Bull,  and  others,  are  so 
difficult  that  it  would  be  hardly  possible  to  find  a 
master  in  Europe*  who  would  undertake  to  play 
one  of  them  at  the  end  of  a  mouth's  practice."  t 

But  still,  according  to  the  clear  and  decisive  tes- 
timony of  the  learned  historian,  secular  music,  in- 
strumental as  well  as  vocal,  was  quite  inferior  to 
that  of  the  church.     He  says  : 

"  The  instrumental  music  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
reign  seems  to  partake  of  the  pedantry  and  foppery 
of  the  times."  t  And  again  :  "  Instrumental  music 
[secular]  seems  as  yet  to  have  made  but  a  small 
progress  towards  the  perfection  at  which  it  has  since 
arrived." §  And,  "Our  secular  vocal  music,  during 
the  first  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  seems  to  have 
been  much  inferior  to  that  of  the  church."  || 

That  secular  music  was  equally  dependent  upon 
sacred  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  at  that  period,  suffi- 


*  Vol.  III.,  p.  15.  t  Burney  wrote  about  1780. 

t  Vol.  III.,  p.  110.  §  Id.,  p.  143.  ||  Id.,  p.  119. 


•SIXTEENTH     CENTURY.  55 

ciently  appears  from  two  or  three  similar  remarks. 
While  "the  Cathedral  service"'  of  England,  "  by 
the  diligence  of  Dr.  Tye,  Tallis,  Bird,  Morley,  and 
others,  was  brought  to  a  pitch  of  perfection  which 
was  hardly  surpassed  by  that  of  Italy  itself,"*  "the 
Italians  had  but  little  rhythm  or  melody  in  their 
[secular]  music,"  t  and  "  the  melodies  of  all  the  rest 
of  Europe  (except  England)  had  no  other  model 
than  the  chants  of  the  church."  t 

It  is  only  necessary  to  observe  here  upon  the 
remark  that  the  "Cathedral  service"  of  England 
was  hardly  surpassed  "  by  that  of  Italy  itself"  that 
this  comparison  leaves  out  of  view  the  metrical 
psalmody  of  the  Church  of  England,  which  was  at 
that  time  a  very  important  and  much  improved  part 
of  its  music ;  having  been  established  in  an  excel- 
lent state  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Sixth, § 
by  the  great  skill  and  good  judgment  of  Dr.  Tye, 
who  was  musical  preceptor  to  that  excellent  prince,  [1 
and  on  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Burney,  "  as  great  a 
musician  as  Europe  could  then  boast." IF 

So  fully  do  all  the  details  presented  by  that  dili- 
gent investigator  prove,  with  respect  to  the  most 
important  period  in  the  history  of  modern  music, 
the  very  reverse  of  his  strange  and  quite  unac- 
countable assertion.  Nor  does  it  receive  much  better 
support  from  what  he  shows  concerning  the  com- 
parative merits  of  sacred  and  secular  music  during 
the  succeeding  reigns  of  James  I.  and  Charles.  I. 

*  Vol.  III.,  p.  323.  t  Id.,  p.  120.  t  Id.,  p.  88. 

§  Id.,  p.  8.  ||  Hawkins,  Vol.  III.,  p.  250. 

*  Id.,  p.  11.     Hawkins,  Vol.  III.,  p.  250. 


56  MUSIC     AS     IT     WAS. 

What  is  said  of  the  reign  of  James  is  very  ex- 
plicit : 

"  Amidst  many  dull  and  worthless  secular  pro- 
ductions, the  church  was  furnished  with  some  good 
compositions."* 

"  The  court  during  this  reign  seems  to  have  been 
wholly  inattentive  to  music,"  t 

"  All  instrumental  music  but  that  of  the  organ 
seems  to, have  been  in  a  very  rude  state  at  this  time 
throughout  Europe."! 

And  in  this  connection  the  continued  dependence 
of  secular  music  upon  that  of  the  church,  may  be 
very  conclusively  inferred  from  the  learned  histo- 
rian's remarks  in  several  places,  that  certain  pieces 
in  this  reign  seem  to  have  been  the  model  of  the 
Italian  opera  in  the  ensuing  century,§  and  that  in 
a  certain  part  of  a  play  "  a  psalm  was  sung."  II 

Nor  was  the  general  state  of  the  case  much 
altered  during  the  reign  of  Charles  the  First. 

"  The  productions  for  the  church  during  this 
reign  were  superior  to  those  of  any  species."  IF  "  A 
similar  passage  attests  "  the  superiority  of  church 
music  over  secular  at  this  period  in  every  part  of 
Europe."** 

"  Where  there  is  no  poetry  truly  lyric,  there  can 
be  no  graceful  or  symmetric  melody  ;  and  during  the 
last  century  there  was  certainly  none  which  merited 
that  title  in  any  language  of  Europe."  It 


*  Burney,  Vol.  III.,  p  327.  t  Id.,  p.  331. 

t  Id.,  p.  358.  §  Id.,  pp.  344,  6,  7.  ||  Id.,  p.  332. 

V  Id.,  p.  363.  **  Id.,  p.  395.  tt  Id.,  p.  396. 


SEVENTEENTH     CENTURY.  57 

"  There  was  but  little  instrumental  music  of  any- 
kind  printed  during  this  period. — At  a  time  when  all 
other  instrumental  music  was  so  easy  and  simple, 
as  to  appear  now  perfectly  artless  and  insipid,  the 
extreme  complication  and  difficulty  of  all  the  music 
that  was  composed  for  the  organ  and  virginal  is 
truly  marvellous."  * 

For  some  of  the  purposes  of  this  review,  it  may 
well  be  continued  at  once  so  as  to  include  the  testi- 
mony of  a  more  recent  period.  In  view  of  the  ad- 
vancement of  sacred  and  secular  music  respect- 
ively, at  the  establishment  of  the  Commonwealth 
and  Protectorate,  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that  the 
commotions  attending  that  event,  and  the  ecclesias- 
tical arrangements  of  the  subsequent  Interregnum, 
did  much  less  injury  to  secular  music,  which  was  as 
yet  quite  rude,  than  to  that  of  the  church,  which 
was  in  a  state  of  high  cultivation.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances, decisive  testimony  to  the  subsequent 
dependence  of  secular  music  upon  that  of  the  church, 
and  the  continued  superiority  of  sacred  music  even 
after  the  Restoration  is  very  remarkable.  Such  tes- 
timony may  be  best  introduced  with  the  expressive 
lamentation  of  Doctor  Burney  over  his  favorite  mu- 
sic. "  Alas  !"  he  says,  "  what  is  the  secular  music 
that  thirty  years  have  not  withered,  wrinkled  and 
superannuated  ?"  t  Then  speaking  of  the  secular 
songs  of  the  period  immediately  following  the  Res- 
toration, he  says : 

"  Among  these  songs,  to  the  number  of  near  fifty, 

*  Burney,  Vol.  III.,  p.  407.  t  Id.,  p.  463. 

3* 


58  MUSIC     AS    IT    WAS. 

there  is  not  one  air  that  is  either  ingenious,  graceful, 
cheerful,  or  solemn.  An  insipid  languor  or  vulgar 
pertness  pervades  the  whole.  From  Pelham  Hum- 
phrey, whose  church  music  is  so  excellent,  I  own  I 
expected  to  find  originality,  or  merit  of  some  kind 
or  other ;  but  his  songs  are  quite  on  a  level  with  the 
rest."* 

He  then  comprehends  the  whole  period  from  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth  to  that  of  James  II.  under  the 
same  description,  with  the  remark,  that  "  in  tracing 
the  progress  of  English  music  through  the  reigns  of 
James  I.,  Charles  I.,  the  Protectorate,  and  the  chief 
part  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  but  few  secular 
compositions  occurred  which  could  be  heartily 
praised."  t 

Afterwards,  including  with  the  reign  of  James  II. 
the  Revolution  and  accession  of  William  and  Mary, 
he  speaks  of  the  fame  of  Purcell's  songs  as  "  tem- 
porary ;"  and  implying  their  inferiority  to  his  com- 
positions for  the  church,  he  says,  that  "  none  of  the 
votaries  of  Lulli,"  the  great  master  of  the  French, 
"  would  attempt  to  put  his  sacred  music  in  compari- 
son with  that  of  Purcell."t 

Finally,  in  connection  with  the  general  remark, 
that  "  little  music  purely  instrumental  seems  to  have 
been  composed  till  the  latter  end  of  the  17th  cen- 
tury," §  he  says,  "  The  Cavalier  Tarquinio  Merula, 
who  nourished  from  1628  to  1640,  has  been  men- 
tioned among  grave  composers  for  the  church  and 


*  Burney,  Vol.  III.,  p.  467.  t  Id.,  p.  485. 

t  Id.,  p.  511.  §  Id,  p.  532. 


SEVENTEENTH     CENTURY.  59 

madrigalists ;  but  his  secular  compositions  are  al- 
most all  so  tinctured  with  caprice  and  buffoonery, 
as  to  render  them  more  singular  and  original  than 
those  of  any  of  his  contemporaries."* 

"  The  list  of  great  musicians  which  France  pro- 
duced" (during  the  same  period)  u  is  not  nume- 
rous ;"t  and, 

u  Correlli,"  one  of  the  most  famous  of  Italian 
musicians,  "  in  his  concertos,  availed  himself  much  of 
the  compositions  of  other  masters,  particularly  of  the 
Masses  in  which  he  played  at  Rome."  t 

More  testimony  to  the  same  effect  might  be  rea- 
dily obtained  from  the  u  General  History  of  Music." 
But  enough  has  been  produced  to  nullify  entirely 
the  rash  remark  of  the  author  of  that  instructive 
work,  in  his  most  unseasonable  note,  at  his  entrance 
upon  the  period  to  which  this  testimony  relates. 
And  while  this  is  not  weakened  by  any  opposing 
testimony,  upon  either  of  the  points  to  which  it  re- 
lates, it  is  moreover  not  materially  modified  by  the 
learned  writer's  assertion  that  certain  "  imperfections 
were  general  in  the  compositions  for  the  church  of 
every  author  in  every  language  throughout  Europe,"§ 
during  a  part  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  ;  nor  yet  by 
his  admission  of  the  Germans  to  a  partial  superiority 
over  the  English,  at  a  more  recent  period ;  where  he 
says,  u  Of  many  German  composers  whose  works  I 
have  not  been  able  to  find,  I  make  no  doubt,  but 
that  as  far  as  harmony,  contrivance,  complication. 


*  Burney,  Vol.  III.,  p.  531.  t  Id.,  p.  582. 

I  Id.,  p.  557.  $  Id.,  p.  29. 


60  MUSIC     AS     IT     IS. 

and  diligence  could  carry  them,  they  were  superior 
to  all  other  musicians  of  the  time."  * 

It  would  seem  but  proper  to  regard  it  as  an  over- 
sight on  the  part  of  so  cautious  a  writer,  that,  after 
such  a  detail  of  facts  in  opposition  to  the  unfounded 
assertion  into  which  he  had  been  betrayed  by  a  pre- 
mature opinion,  he  did  not  retract  the  assertion,  as 
well  as  modify  the  opinion.  Certainly  no  one,  with 
any  pretensions  to  candor  or  logic,  would  presume 
to  maintain  an  opinion  in  opposition  to  such  an  array 
of  testimony,  derived  from  personal  investigation  of 
all  the  sources  of  evidence  accessible  to  the  most 
diligent  search. 

A  farther  appropriate  view  of  the  present  state  of 
sacred  music  is  suggested  by  certain  provisions 
among  the  laws  or  rescripts  by  which  the  worship 
of  the  Church  of  England  was  directed  immediately 
after  the  Reformation.  Many  parts  of  the  Morning 
and  Evening  Prayer  and  of  the  Communion  Service 
were  appointed  to  be  said  or  sung.  And  to  facilitate 
the  singing  of  those  parts  of  the  service,  as  well  as 
the  psalms  in  metre,  books  for  the  use  of  the  people 
were  set  forth,  in  the  days  of  Cranmert  as  well  as  in 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth,}:  containing  apt  notes  where- 
withal to  sing  the  chants  and  psalms. 

These  facts  would  seem  to  indicate  a  higher  de- 
gree of  proficiency  in  vocal  music,  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  than  is  even  now  to  be  found  in  this  country. 


*  Burney,  Vol.  III.,  p.  581. 

t  Smith,  p.  281,  2.     Burney,  Vol.  II.,  p.  578. 

t  Higgins,  p.  225.     Hawkins,  Vol.  III.,  p.  488. 


GOOD     OEGANS.  61 

Musical  notation  has  been,  in  the  mean  time,  much 
simplified  by  gradual  improvement  of  the  Guidonian 
system.  But  certainly  books  of  musical  notes  would 
be  of  little  use  to  most  congregations  ;  while  proba- 
bly not  one  person  in  four  of  all  the  members  of 
choirs,  nor  one  in  forty  of  other  persons,  can  sing  by 
note,  so  as  to  read  in  tune  at  sight,  without  the  help 
of  an  instrument,  all  ordinary  strains  of  sacred  mu- 
sic. It  is  not  improbable,  indeed,  that  the  notes  set 
forth  in  the  sixteenth  century  were  afterwards  omit- 
ted, or  abandoned  for  other  tunes,  chiefly  on  account 
of  the  general  incapacity  of  the  people  to  make  due 
use  of  them.  But  at  all  events,  the  comparison  thus 
suggested  between  the  sixteenth  and  the  nineteenth 
centuries,  with  reference  to  the  general  state  of  mu- 
sic in  both  periods,  brings  out  very  clearly,  in  con- 
nection with  the  important  facts  before  detailed,  a 
conclusion  which  deserves  attention,  in  any  view  of 
the  present  state  of  sacred  music ;  namely,  that  it  is 
not  now  so  decidedly  superior  to  secular  music,  as  it 
was  immediately  after  the  establishment  of  the  pre- 
sent system,  during  the  sixteenth  century  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  seventeenth. 

Here,  therefore,  several  important  questions  con- 
cerning the  causes  of  the  facts,  and  the  tendency  of 
the  conclusion,  thus  stated,  naturally  suggest  them- 
selves. But  the  discussion  of  such  questions  is  not 
consistent  with  the  plan  of  this  essay.  It  is  only 
necessary  here  to  remark,  that  with  all  the  advan- 
tages which  the  church  enjoys  in  the  possession  of 
large  treasures  of  standard  classical  music,  perfectly 
adapted  to  that  noble  ecclesiastical  instrument,  the 


62  MUSIC     AS     IT     IS. 

organ,  there  is  no  reason  why  sacred  music  should 
not,  with  due  diligence  on  the  part  of  those  upon 
whom  its  advancement  depends,  maintain  its  just 
ascendency  over  all  secular  music,  both  in  scientific 
excellence  and  general  attractiveness,  A  good  organ, 
such  as  is  really  fit  to  be  used  in  the  worship  of  any 
intelligent  and  prosperous  congregation,  enables 
three  or  four  persons  to  produce  better  music  for 
variety  and  power  and  all  scientific  excellence  than 
can  be  made  by  thirty  or  forty  persons  with  any  in- 
struments of  secular  music*  And  the  diapasons  of 
such  an  organ,  "  if  they  could  speak  in  articulate 
words,"  as  has  been  well  said  by  the  eloquent  divine 
already  quoted,  "  would  utter  any  text  in  the  Bible 
with  dignity  and  reverence."  Inferior  organs,  in- 
deed, are  rather  an  injury  than  an  improvement  to 
the  music  of  the  church.  But  it  is  an  encouraging 
feature  in  the  present  state  of  sacred  music,  that 
much  attention  is  now  given,  not  only  by  organ- 
builders,  but  also  by  skilful  and  scientific  organists 
and  sensible  connoisseurs,  to  the  improvement  of 
organs,  in  those  points  in  which  there  is  still  much 
room  for  the  exercise  of  ingenuity  and  good  taste. 
In  some  respects,  there  has  been  little  opportunity  for 
improvement  since  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century;    two  organs,  built  at  that  period,  for  the 

*  Even  the  Piano  Forte,  in  which  a  part  of  the  mechanism  of  the 
organ  has  been  applied  to  an  instrument  of  many  strings,  is  incapable, 
with  all  its  beauty  and  power,  of  producing  some  of  the  peculiar 
effects  of  the  organ  ;  especially  that  solemn,  soothing  flow  of  "  linked 
sweetness  long  drawn  out,"  on  which  the  advancement  of  modern 
harmony  has  been  in  a  high  degree  dependent. 


THE     PIANO     FORTE.  63 

Temple  church  and  St.  Paul's  cathedral,  having 
been  to  this  day  unsurpassed  in  sweetness  of  tone ; 
according  to  the  testimony  of  writers,*  qualified  to 
affirm,  that  a  single  stop,  known  to  be  the  workman- 
ship of  the  makert  of  those  instruments,  would  be  at 
present  almost  invaluable.  Nor  was  he  without  a 
worthy  rival  in  his  day.  I  But  in  many  things  per- 
taining to  the  mechanism  of  various  parts  of  an 
organ  and  the  perfecting  of  recently  invented  stops, 
there  is  yet  room  for  much  application  of  skill  and 
sound  judgment;  the  office  of  the  latter  being  some- 
times of  no  small  importance,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
terdicting alterations  and  additions,  which  would  be 
very  erroneously  deemed  improvements. 

Farther  hints  respecting  the  present  state  of 
music  will  suggest  themselves  in  the  consideration 
of  a  kindred  topic;  the  true  standard  of  modern 
music. 


*  Higgins,  p.  235.     Burney,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  409,  440. 
t  Father  Smith.  X  Harris. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    TRUE    STANDARD    OF    MODERN    MUSIC. 

To  determine  the  true  standard  of  modern  music, 
due  regard  must  be  had  to  the  analogy  that  may  be 
traced  between  this  and  others  of  the  liberal  and  fine 
arts ;  for  example,  rhetoric,  painting,  and  sculpture  ; 
and  also  to  its  intimate  connection  with  poetry.  Espe- 
cially must  the  grand  principles  of  rhetoric  be  kept 
in  view,  for  the  basis  of  good  taste  in  sacred  music. 
It  is  a  very  common  opinion,  that  the  only  object 
of  vocal  music  is  to  give  effect  to  words  sung,  and 
thus  to  add  force  to  human  speech  in  one  or  other  of 
the  languages  of  mankind.  In  truth,  however,  mu- 
sic is,  by  itself,  a  perfect  science,  and  an  independent 
art ;  and  has  a  language  peculiar  to  itself,  considered 
without  regard  to  any  form  of  speech :  not  merely 
its  nomenclature  as  a  science,  and  its  vocabulary  as 
an  art ;  but  its  own  peculiar  means  of  expressing 
sentiments  and  emotions,  and  of  associating  and 
combining  ideas.  And  it  is  with  reference  to  this 
characteristic,   that   music  may  be  well  compared 


MUSIC     AND     RHETORIC.  65 

with  rhetoric,  for  a  true  view  of  the  principles  of 
good  taste,  which  are  common  to  both. 

It  is  difficult  so  to  trace  this  comparison  as  to 
render  it  perfectly  clear  to  persons  unacquainted  with 
the  general  principles  of  musical  composition.  And 
one  of  the  most  eminent  of  writers  upon  the  "  nature 
and  principles  of  taste"  has  given  a  very  erroneous 
description  of  the  analogy  between  rhetoric  and  mu- 
sic, while  confessedly  ll  speaking  with  great  diffi- 
dence of  an  art  of  which  he  had  no  theoretical 
knowledge."*  But  the  mistake  of  the  eloquent  pre- 
bendary of  Sarum  upon  this  point  may  be  turned  to 
good  account  for  the  purpose  now  in  hand. 

"  What  thought  is,"  he  says,  "  to  the  arrangement 
of  words,  the  key,  or  the  fundamental  tone  is  to  the 
arrangement  of  sounds ;  and  as  the  one  constitutes 
a  whole  in  language,  by  establishing  a  certain  and 
definite  idea,  to  which  all  the  words  in  a  sentence 
bear  a  relation,  so  the  other  constitutes  a  whole  in 
music,  by  establishing  a  definite  and  leading  sound, 
to  which  all  the  other  sounds  in  the  series  bear  a 
similar  relation. "t 

This,  now,  is  a  very  inaccurate  statement  of  the 
fundamental  analogy  between  rhetoric  and  music. 
It  is  true,  that  the  arrangement  of  words  in  a  sen- 
tence depends  somewhat  upon  the  thought  of  the 
writer  or  speaker ;  or  a  certain  and  definite  idea,  to 
which  all  the  words  in  the  sentence  bear  a  relation. 
It  is  also  true,  that  the  arrangement  of  notes  in  a 


*  Alison  on  Taste,  p.  155.     New- York,  1844. 
t  Id.  ,  .  157. 


68  MUSIC     AS     IT     IS. 

strain  of  music  depends  somewhat  upon  the  key- 
note, to  which,  of  course  all  the  others  bear  a  rela- 
tion. But  it  is  not  proper,  on  this  account,  to  repre- 
sent the  key-note  as  analogous  to  thought.  There 
is  thought  in  music,  as  well  as  in  language  ;  and  in 
every  strain  or  passage  of  good  music  a  certain  and 
definite  idea,  to  which  all  the  notes  bear  a  relation  ; 
just  as  truly  as  all  the  words  in  a  well  constructed 
sentence  bear  a  relation  to  the  thought  which  they 
express.  But  the  thought  expressed  in  a  strain  of 
music  is  not  the  key-note  of  the  passage.  Nor  does 
the  thought  or  idea  of  any  passage  of  music  ever  de- 
pend upon  the  key-note.  It  is,  indeed,  somewhat 
affected  by  the  general  distinction  between  the  major 
and  the  minor  modes;  as  respectively  adapted,  in 
their  ordinary  effects,  to  jubilant  and  plaintive  strains. 
Musical  thought,  however,  does  not,  in  any  case, 
depend  upon  a  single  note  or  tone,  but  upon  combi- 
nations or  phrases  of  notes  ;  even  as  in  language,  the 
thought  expressed  by  a  writer  or  speaker  depends 
not  upon  any  single  word,  but  upon  the  several 
words  and  phrases  which  make  up  a  sentence. 
Moreover,  the  combinations  of  notes,  in  phrases  and 
strains,  like  the  combinations  of  words  in  clauses 
and  sentences,  are  illimitable  and  exhaustless.  They 
may,  therefore,  be  varied  interminably,  even  without 
any  change  of  the  key-note.  And  on  the  other 
hand,  the  thought  or  idea  of  a  particular  strain  of 
music  may  be,  to  a  certain  extent,  expressed  with 
various  key-notes.  So  far,  then,  as  any  analogy  can 
be  traced  between  rhetoric  and  music  in  such  a  point 
of  view,  the  key-note  or  fundamental  tone  is  not  to 


MUSIC     AND     RHETORIC.  67 

be  compared  to  the  leading  thought  of  a  sentence, 
but  to  the  most  essential  word  or  phrase  in  the  sen- 
tence ;  the  word  or  phrase  without  which  it  would 
be  ungrammatical,  or  incomplete.  This  analogy- 
was,  indeed,  very  near  to  the  mind  of  Prebendary- 
Alison,  when  he  wrote  this  sentence.  "  Although 
every  word  in  language  is  significant,  and  there  is  a 
necessary  relation  among  words  established  by  the 
rules  of  grammar,  yet  it  is  obviously  possible  to  ar- 
range words,  according  to  grammatical  rules,  which 
yet  shall  possess  no  meaning."*  But  having  no 
theoretical  knowledge  of  music,  he  erred  entirely  in 
his  attempt  to  apply  to  this  subject  his  truly  excel- 
lent ideas  of  the  principles  of  rhetoric.  "  In  the 
same  manner,"  he  adds,  "  a  series  of  sounds  may  be 
composed,  according  to  their  individual  relations, 
which  yet  may  possess  no  general  relation,  and  from 
which,  as  we  can  discover  no  end,  we  can  derive  no 
pleasure."  Had  he  said,  as  he  might  have  done, 
that  a  series  of  sounds  may  be  composed,  which  pos- 
sessing, besides  their  individual  relations  to  each 
other,  a  general  relation  to  the  key-note,  established 
by  the  rules  of  musical  grammar,  shall  yet  have  no 
meaning  as  music,  he  would  not  have  proceeded  im- 
mediately afterwards  with  the  erroneous  statement 
which  suggested  this  criticism. 

These  remarks  will  suffice  to  point  out  the  more 
important  analogy  which  may  be  traced  between 
rhetoric  and  music,  with  reference  to  principles  and 
rules  of  good  taste.     It  may  be  further  defined  by  a 

*  Essays  on  Taste,  p.  156. 


68  MELODY     AND     HARMONY. 

brief  comparison,  in  particulars.  In  rhetoric,  true 
beauty  and  real  sublimity  of  style,  and  genuine  pa- 
thos, depend  more  upon  entire  simplicity  and  perfect 
unity,  than  upon  any  other  qualities.  And  to  an 
equal  degree  in  music,  neglect  of  unity  and  departure 
from  simplicity  tend  to  destroy  or  hinder  the  most  im- 
portant effects  of  any  flow  of  sweet  sounds,  whether 
expressed  in  mere  melody  or  in  full  harmony. 

The  distinction  which  is  observed  between  these 
words,  as  terms  of  musical  science,  at  the  present 
day,  has  been  already  recognized.  But  it  needs  to 
be  stated  here  more  fully.  The  word  melody  signi- 
fies a  strain  of  music  which  consists  of  a  succession 
of  single  notes.  And  the  term  harmony  is  applied  to 
combinations  of  different  notes,  sounding  together  in 
concord.  A  single  note,  not  succeeded  by  another, 
does  not,  in  any  sense,  constitute  a  melody.  But  a 
combination  of  two,  three  or  more  notes,  sounded  to- 
gether in  concord,  is  harmony.  This,  therefore,  may 
be  said,  in  some  sense,  to  exist  anterior  to  melody ; 
since  many  single  sounds,  such  as  the  tone  of  a 
heavy  bell,  and  that  of  a  good  harp-string,  include 
three  concordant  notes.  The  term  harmony,  how- 
ever, in  the  strictness  of  its  technical  meaning, 
signifies  a  succession  of  combinations  of  concordant 
notes  ;  and  thus,  in  fact  presupposes  the  existence  of 
several  melodies,  moving  together  in  consonance. 
Nevertheless,  good  harmony  is  the  real  source  of  true 
melody ;  which  is  defined  by  eminent  masters  of 
music,  to  be  "  a  succession  of  sounds  at  harmonic 
distances,  and  only  one  of  the  accidents  or  forms  of 
harmony,  and  always  dependent,  for  its  excellence 


SIMPLICITY     AND     UNITY.  69 

and  beauty,  on  the  order  of  chords  through  which  it 
is  made  to  pass,  or  in  other  words,  on  the  correctness 
of  the  harmony  by  which  it  is  generated.''*  And  if 
by  correct  harmony  we  understand  that  which  is 
not  only  conformable  to  the  rules  of  musical  gram- 
mar, but  also  truly  significant,  and  expressive  of  sen- 
timent, or  effective  for  some  of  the  purposes  of  music, 
as  a  source  of  pleasure,  an  object  of  cultivated  taste, 
and  a  means  of  social  refinement  and  Christian  civ- 
ilization and  devotion,  such  a  definition  is  complete, 
and  very  important. 

This  explanation  is  necessary,  at  the  outset  of 
any  discussion  concerning  the  proper  style  of  any 
modern  music :  in  order  to  guard  against  an  er- 
roneous impression  which  is  very  common ;  the 
unfounded  idea,  that  the  important  qualities  of  sim- 
plicity and  unity  are  more  likely  to  be  secured  in 
mere  melody,  or  music  in  one  part,  than  in  full  har- 
mony, or  music  in  several  parts.  There  could  hard- 
ly be  a  greater  mistake  than  this.  The  very  reverse 
is  the  truth.  Genuine,  close,  full  and  rich  harmony, 
such  as  can  only  be  produced  by  masters  of  the  sci- 
ence of  music,  is  the  real  source  and  security  of  unity 
and  true  simplicity.  And  mere  melody,  on  the  other 
hand,  or  a  succession  of  solitary  notes,  following 
each  other  in  a  single  part,  and  not  subjected  to  strict 
scrutiny  as  respects  the  harmony,  good  or  bad, 
which  they  nevertheless  represent  and  imply,  may 
ramble  and  roam  in  a  manner  utterly  inconsistent 
with  every  idea  of  simplicity,  and  of  that  unity  of  a 

*  Gardiner,  p.  368. 


70  MUSIC     AND     SCULPTURE. 

grand  whole,  which  is  scarcely  less  essential  to  true 
beauty  than  to  real  sublimit}^  in  such  things  as  may 
partake  of  the  sublime,  Nor  can  these  observations 
respecting  the  foundation  of  good  style  in  music  be 
disparaged  in  the  least,  by  any  testimony  derived 
from  the  universal  and  deserved  popularity  of  certain 
standard  melodies  found  in  a  few  favorite  airs,  which 
are  often  sung  as  mere  melodies,  not  only  in  secular 
but  in  sacred  music.  Such  melodies  are,  in  truth, 
as  entirely  dependent  upon  the  grand  principles  of 
harmony  for  all  their  beauty,  as  any  sublime  expres- 
sion in  language  is,  for  its  power,  upon  a  universal 
sense  of  some  great  truths  in  nature,  which  in  their 
essential  unity  and  consequent  simplicity,  are  alike 
manifest  to  every  intelligent  mind. 

The  leading  principle  of  these  remarks  may  be 
fitly  illustrated  farther  by  a  brief  reference  to  partic- 
ulars in  the  arts  of  sculpture  and  painting.  In 
sculpture,  beauty  does  not  consist  in  single,  solitary 
lines,  whatever  be  their  course.  Nor  yet  does  sim- 
plicity itself  consist  in  the  unentangled  variations  of 
a  single  line,  which  the  eye  must  follow  around  from 
point  to  point,  in  order  to  perceive  its  bearings  and 
relations.  But  unity,  simplicity  and  true  beauty,  in 
sculpture,  depend  upon  a  fitting  combination  of  vari- 
ous lines,  and  an  harmonious  development  of  the 
several  parts,  especially  the  contiguous  points  of  a 
complete  figure,  of  whatever  form.  The  same  re- 
mark may  be  applied,  and  if  possible  with  greater 
force,  to  the  art  of  Painting.  This  art,  however,  af- 
fords a  still  clearer  illustration  of  the  value  of  fall 
harmony  in  music.     The  beauty  of  a  finished  pic- 


MUSIC     AXD     PAINTING.  71 

ture  consists  largely  in  a  suitable  variety  of  colors  ; 
fitly  proportioned  and  duly  blended,  In  like  man- 
ner does  a  finished  piece  of  music,  a  composition  de- 
signed to  produce  the  highest  effects  of  which  music 
is  capable,  require  a  due  employment  of  the  nicer 
shades  and  colors  of  sound,  which  are  produced  by 
the  appropriate  introduction  of  the  delicate  intervals 
of  semitones,  technically  termed  accidentals.  Such 
gradual  variations  of  tone,  when  they  occur  fre- 
quently, constitute  musical  phrases,  which  are  called; 
with  a  more  strict  reference  to  their  effect,  than  was 
implied  in  the  original  application  of  the  term  to  a 
certain  genus  of  ancient  music,  chromatic,  or  colored 
passages.  And  in  point  of  fact,  there  is  hardly  a 
good  piece  of  harmony  in  three  or  four  parts,  which 
is  not  somewhat  colored  by  such  chromatic  changes. 
But  it  is  manifestly  quite  possible  to  give,  by  means 
of  these  and  other  embellishments,  an  excessive 
glare  of  ornament  to  music  designed  for  sacred  use.* 
There  is  yet  another  point  to  be  considered  in 
this  inquiry  for  the  true  standard  of  style  in  modern 
music;    namely  the  intimate  connection   of  music 

*  What  Clement  of  Alexandria  says,  Paedag.,  L.  II.,  c  4,  against 
chromatic  music  is  not  fairly  applicable  to  chromatic  passages  in  mo- 
dern music.  This  term  anciently  denoted  a  genus  of  music  entirely 
distinct  and  separate  from  that  to  which  the  term  diatonic  was  ap- 
plied. But  in  modern  music  there  is  but  one  genus,  the  diatonic  ; 
with  which  passages  slightly  corresponding  to  those  of  the  ancient 
chromatic  genus  have  been  incorporated,  to  meet  the  necessities  or 
demands  of  modern  harmony.  It  is,  however,  to  be  observed,  that 
very  ancient  music  of  the  Greek  church  has  been  styled  by  some  wri- 
ters xPwHLaTlCo^vovy  chromatized  ;  and  by  others  Canto  Soave  e  Fig- 
urato.     Hawkins,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  112. 


72  MUSIC     AND     POETRY. 

with  poetry.  Through  the  imperfection  of  the  sci- 
ence of  music,  previous  to  the  discovery  or  invention 
of  florid  counterpoint  or  figurative  harmony,  the 
practice  of  music  in  ancient  times,  and  in  modern 
nations  also,  down  to  the  period  of  the  Reformation, 
or  at  least  to  the  date  of  its  incipiency  under  Wick- 
liffe,  was  in  some  degree  peculiar  to  bards  and  min- 
strels ;  who  used  to  accompany  their  effusions  of 
rhythmical  sentences,  in  various  poetical  forms,  with 
strains  of  simple  melody  and  rude  harmony  upon 
the  harp  or  lyre ;  music  similar  to  that  now  made 
by  imperfect  performers  upon  the  guitar.  The 
principal  exception  to  this  remark  is  found  in  the 
music  of  the  ancient  Jews  and  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians. Doubtless  many  of  their  "  psalms  and  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs"  were  written  in  prose  or  in  poeti- 
cal language,  which,  like  that  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures, was  not  strictly  metrical  ;*  but  rendered  poetical 

*  No  opinion  is  here  expressed  respecting  such  views  of  the  me- 
trical character  of  Hebrew  poetry  as  are  maintained  in  the  writings 
of  Jerome,  and  by  the  Benedictine  editors  of  his  works,  and  many 
other  learned  writers.  It  may  be  a  safe  assertion  of  Bp.  Jebb,  that 
the  technicality  of  Hebrew  poetry,  which  abundantly  distinguishes  it 
from  simple  prose,  is  altogether  different  from  the  prosodical  techni- 
cality of  the  classics.  Sacr. Literature,  IV.,  p.  17.  Lond.  1828.  But 
the  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  argument  which  the  learned  Bishop 
derives  from  "  the  agreeable  melody  of  a  song  in  English  prose  in  the 
Messiah  of  Handel,"  or  from  "  the  grand  and  sublime  harmony  of  one 
of  Kent's  anthems,"  to  prove  that  "  the  cadence  of  a  well  modulated 
prose  would  fully  answer  to  render  the  poetry  of  the  Hebrews,  sup- 
posing it  entirely  destitute  of  metre,  sufficiently  harmonious  to  be 
grateful  to  the  ear  in  recitation,  and  suitable  to  musical  accompani- 
ment." p.  21.  This  argument  betrays,  at  the  least,  a  singular  inad- 
vertence, with  respect  to  a  certain  deficiency  in  all  ancient  music ;  a 


MUSICAL     RHYTHM.  73 

in  part  by  other  circumstances  of  correspondence, 
connection  and  relation  than  those  of  measured  time 
and  similar  division  and  arrangement  of  syllables  ; 
namely,  the  correspondence  of  parallelism  and  con- 
trast, in  sentiment.  Even  the  Hebrew  poetry,  how- 
ever, as  well  as  those  hymns  and  canticles  of  the 
ancient  Christians  which  were  written  in  Greek  and 
Latin  prose,  probably  partook  in  a  considerable  de- 
gree of  the  rhythmical  movement  which  Cicero,  by 
implication,  ascribes  to  classical  prose  in  the  Latin 
tongue,  when  he  says  that  much  of  Iambic  metre 
was  scarcely  superior  to  it  in  rhythm.* 

But  the  intimate  connection  of  music  with  poetry 
does  not  consist  merely  in  the  fitness  of  melodious 
sounds  to  give  force  to  measured  or  rhythmical  lan- 
guage. Rhythm  is  also  an  essential  constituent  of 
perfect  music,  considered  without  any  regard  to 
speech.  It  is  not,  indeed,  so  essential  to  all  music, 
as  to  justify  the  remark  of  Mr.  Alison,  that  "  the  most 
pleasing  succession  of  sounds,  without  the  preserva- 
tion of  that  regularity  or  uniformity  which  is  com- 
monly called  time,  every  one  knows  is  positively 
displeasing."!  Such  an  idea  is  readily  confuted  by 
the  universal  attractiveness  of  the  iEolian  harp ; 
which,  being  entirely  dependent  for  the  continuance 
of  its  various  strains  upon  the  irregular  breeze  of  the 
atmosphere,  is  utterly  destitute  of  all  rhythmical 

deficiency  which,  as  an  undeniable  fact,  is  admitted  by  the  most 
ardent  admirers  of  such  music,  and  supplied  by  the  laodi  in  invention 
of  the  time-table  and  other  improvements  in  musical  notation. 

*  Orator,  55. 

t  Essays  on  Taste,  p.  157. 
4 


74  POETICAL     RHYTHM. 

succession  of  sounds.  It  is  also  sufficiently  dis- 
proved by  the  partial  neglect  of  rhythm  in  modern 
chanting,  especially  in  the  English  language ;  and 
by  the  fact,  that  the  most  effective  organists  and 
tasteful  performers  upon  the  violin,  the  French  horn, 
the  bugle  and  the  flute,  often  manifest  in  their  best 
efforts  to  satisfy  the  ear  and  the  heart  of  true  lovers 
of  music,  an  utter  disregard  of  rhythm,  as  consisting 
in  a  continual  repetition  of  measured  phrases,  limited 
by  the  exact  vibrations  of  a  pendulum.  Above  all, 
it  is  utterly  refuted  by  the  least  consideration  of  the 
manner  in  which  rhythm  was  observed  in  the  vocal 
music  of  the  ancients ;  not  being  regulated  by  such 
mathematical  relations  or  proportions  of  notes  as  are 
settled  by  the  time-table  of  modern  music,  and 
marked  with  bars,  and  measured  with  a  constant 
beat,  during  a  certain  period ;  but  wholly  dependent 
on  the  measure  of  prosody,  and  the  succession  of 
feet  in  poetry ;  insomuch  that  in  some  kinds  of  verse 
such  different  movements  of  sound,  as  are  now  de- 
signated by  the  terms  common  time  and  triple  time7 
often  occurred  in  alternate,  and  sometimes  in  irregu- 
lar succession  in  a  single  verse  or  line.*  According 
to  this  view  of  the  partial  degree  in  which  true  rhythm 
obtained  in  ancient  music,  it  is  difficult  to  perceive 
how  the  Greeks  came  by  the  familiar  maxim,  that 
"  with  musicians  rhythm  is  every  thing,"!  and  how 
so  ancient  a  writer  as  Aristides  Q,uintilianus  could 
give  a  very  perfect  definition  of  rhythm,  as  "  a  sys- 


*  Lond.  Encycl.,P.  XXIX.,  p.  273. 
t  to  irav  irapa  ixovcrinois  '6  pv&fxbs. 


INDEPENDENCE     OF     MUSIC.  75 

tern  of  times  joined  together  according  to  a  certain 
order."*  But  this  view  of  this  important  point  is 
generally  admitted  even  by  the  most  decided  ad- 
mirers of  ancient  music. 

It  has  been  already  hinted,  indeed,  that  so  early 
as  the  fourth  century,  or  the  beginning  of  the  fifth, 
in  the  days  of  Augustine,  the  principles  of  time  in 
music  had  begun  to  hold  a  place,  at  least  in  the 
mind  of  that  writer,  independently  of  the  rhythm  of 
poetry  and  the  prosody  of  grammar.  With  a  strict 
regard  to  the  rules  of  grammarians  and  the  authority 
of  poets,  and  esteeming  the  violation  of  prosody  a 
barbarism,  and  any  transgression  of  the  laws  of 
rhythm  and  metre  offensive,  he  yet  asserts,  that  if 
one  should,  in  music,  when  the  time  of  two  long 
syllables  is  required,  use  a  word  of  one  long  and  one 
short  syllable,  and  prolong  the  latter,  a  musician 
would  not  find  fault,  the  time  of  the  notes  being  such 
as  belongs  to  the  measure,  but  a  grammarian  would 
require  that  a  different  word  should  be  used  in  such 
a  placet  In  his  retractations  alsot  he  speaks  of  the 
rhythm  of  music,  as  a  part  of  music,  and  seems  thus 
to  imply  that  it  might  be  distinguished  from  the 
rhythm  of  poetry.  And  again,  in  his  treatise  on 
music  he  marks  a  distinction  between  trochaic  and 
iambic  rhythms,  as  to  the  manner  of  beating  their 
times  ;  showing  that  while  the  trochee,  or  foot  of  one 
long  and  one  short  syllable,  and  the  iambus,  of  one 
short  syllable  and  one  long,  differed  from  each  other, 
as  to  their  ictus  or  emphatic  beat,  yet  the  tribach  of 

*  Rees's  Cyclop.         t  De  Musica,  L.  II.,  c.  1.         X  L.  I.,  c.  6. 


76 


LATIN     HEXAMETER 


three  short  syllables,  was  alike  conformable  in  this 
respect  to  the  trochee  and  the  iambus ;  and  thus  im- 
plying the  independence  of  musical  rhythm  in  some 
degree."*  While,  therefore,  he  recognized  the  an- 
cient and  accustomed  connection  of  music  and  poet- 
ry, he  at  the  same  time  anticipated  their  mutual 
independence,  and  illustrated  it  by  an  interesting 
example,  in  a  verse  of  Latin  poetry,  which  for  the  pur- 
pose to  which  it  was  thus  applied,  may  be  made 
intelligible  to  readers  unacquainted  with  the  Latin 
language.  It  is  the  first  verse  of  the  iEneid  of  Vir- 
gil. This  verse,  without  any  regard  to  its  meaning, 
may  be  plainly  represented,  in  its  rhythm,  as  a  line 
of  Latin  Hexameter,  with  proper  musical  notes  for 
long  and  short  syllables,  as  well  as  with  the  usual 
grammatical  or  rhetorical  signs,  in  this  manner : 


_        W  U 

Arma  vi 


rumque  ca 

<=>     m     m 


no  Tro 

p    & 


jae  qui 


primus  ab 

&    0         O 


oris. 


Augustine  introduces  a  teacher, t  changing  the 
word  primus  in  the  last  foot  but  one  to  prlmis,  and 
yet  pronouncing  the  verse  in  the  same  time  or  mea- 
sure, as  if  the  word  were  still  primus.  The  pupil 
being  satisfied  with  the  rhythm  of  the  verse  thus 
recited,  the  teacher  reminds  him,  that  such  a  pro- 
nunciation of  the  word  prlmis,  in  which  by  the  rules 
of  prosody,  and  the  authority  or  usage  of  poets,  both 


»  L.  II.,  c.  14. 


t  Id.,  c.  1. 


INSTRUMENTAL     MUSIC. 


77 


syllables  are  long,  is  a  barbarism.  He  then  repeats 
the  line,  thus  changed,  giving  to  the  word  piimls  the 
due  quantity  of  each  syllable.  The  result  is,  that 
the  verse  is  vitiated,  the  rhythm  of  the  line  is  de- 
stroyed, and  it  becomes  as  offensive  to  the  ear  of  the 
pupil  as  the  following  representation  is  to  the  eye  of 
a  grammarian  or  a  musician. 


Arma  vi  rumque  ca 

o  m    m    <z> 


no  Tro 


jae  qui'primis  abjoris. 


Here  the  last  foot  but  one  is  too  long,  having  one 
short  syllable  redundant,  represented  by  a  superfluous 
note  in  the  musical  diagram.  And  the  poetry  and 
the  music  are  alike  faulty. 

A  more  complete  illustration  of  the  mutual  inde- 
pendence of  music  and  poetry  as  distinct  arts,  not- 
withstanding their  accustomed  and  intimate  connec- 
tion in  ancient  times,  could  hardly  be  given.  To 
what  extent  the  independence  of  music  was  recog- 
nized among  the  ancients  by  the  use  of  instruments 
without  any  addition  of  words  sung,  and  whether 
such  instrumental  music  as  they  may  have  had, 
without  the  help  of  syllables  regulated  by  the  rules 
of  prosody,  ever  rose  above  a  very  simple  accompani- 
ment to  the  motions  of  marching  and  dancing,  for 
which  very  rude  and  uncultivated  music  suffices  and 
is  most  fit,  are  questions  which  it  is  now  utterly  im- 
possible to  determine.  It  would  seem,  indeed,  that 
in  the  age  of  Augustine,  as  doubtless  also  before  that 


78  SCOPE     OF     MUSIC. 

period,  there  were  complete  and  regular  tunes  or 
strains  composed  for  pipes  or  flutes.  For  he  says,  in 
a  certain  place,  that  "  cymbals  and  drums  are  struck 
in  symphoniac  feet,  of  certain  numbers  which  are 
joined  with  pleasure  to  the  ear,  but  yet  in  a  perpetual 
course,  so  that  if  you  cannot  hear  the  flutes,  you  can 
by  no  means  distinguish  how  far  the  connection  will 
run,  and  whence  it  will  return  again  to  the  begin- 
ning."* 

Nevertheless,  Boethius,  after  the  age  of  Augus- 
tine, represents  performers  on  instruments  as  in  a 
state  of  subserviency ;  and  speaks  of  verse  as  if  it 
weie  almost  essential  to  music.  According  to  Boe- 
thius, as  cited  by  Hawkins,  Vol.  I.  p.  322,  "three  facul- 
ties are  employed  in  the  musical  art :  one  which  is 
exercised  in  playing  on  instruments,  another  that  of 
the  poet,  which  directs  the  composition  of  verses ; 
and  a  third  which  judges  of  the  former  two.  As  to 
the  first,  the  performance  of  instruments,  it  is  evident 
that  the  artists  obey  as  servants,  and  as  to  poets,  they 
are  not  led  to  verse  so  much  by  reason  as  by  a  cer- 
tain instinct,  which  we  call  genius.  But  that  which 
assumes  to  itself  the  power  of  judging  of  these  two, 
that  can  examine  into  rhythms,  songs  [melodies]  and 
their  verse,  as  it  is  the  exercise  of  reason  and  judg- 
ment is  most  properly  to  be  accounted  music ;  and 
he  only  is  a  musician,  who  has  the  faculty  of  judg- 
ing according  to  speculation  and  the  approved  ratios 
of  sounds,  of  the  modes,  genera  and  rhythmi  of 
songs  [melodies],  and  their  various  commixtures,  and 

*  L.  III.,  c.  1. 


MUSIC     AND     VERSE.  79 

of  the  verses  of  the  poets."*  Thus  it  appears,  that 
in  the  age  of  Boethius,  the  chief  dependence  of  mu- 
sicians for  a  measure  and  guide  of  time  was  the 
movement  of  poetry,  with  its  settled  order  and  melo- 
dious arrangement  of  feet  and  syllables  in  verses,  or 
at  least  in  metres.  And  it  does  not  clearly  appear 
that  for  several  ages  after  the  death  of  that  last  of 
the  pure  Latins,  any  independent  measure  of  time 
in  music  afforded  full  compensation  for  the  loss  of 
rhythm,  through  the  fatal  corruption  of  the  Latin 
language  and  the  final  decline  of  classical  literature, 
consequent  upon  the  irruption  of  the  Goths  and  the 
overthrow  of  the  Imperial  government.  Some  com- 
pensation was  made  by  the  use  of  notes  of  equal 
length,  applied  indiscriminately  to  long  and  short 
syllables,  without  regard  to  the  rules  of  ancient  pro- 
sody. But  the  time-table  was  not  perfected  before 
the  thirteenth  century.  And  even  as  late  as  the  fif- 
teenth, Franchinus  Gaffurius,  according  to  Hawkins, 
wrote  concerning  the  invention  of  a  perfect  system 
of  musical  time  in  these  terms :  *  Musicians  have 
invented  certain  characters,  by  means  whereof,  the 
diversity  of  measured  times  being  previously  under- 
stood, they  are  able  to  form  any  Cantus  in  the  same 
manner  as  verse  is  made  from  different  feet"t 

It  might  not  be  inappropriate  here  to  trace,  in  a 
philosophical  and  historical  view,  the  continued  con- 
nection of  music  and  poetry,  by  which  after  a  long 
period  of  darkness  the  invention  and  perfection  of  a 
complete  system  of  musical  rhythm,  and  the  perfect 

*  Boethius  De  Musiea,  L.  I.,  c.  34.  t  Vol.  IL,  p.  312. 


80  MELODY     OF     POETRY. 

combination  of  melody  and  harmony,  by  means  of 
improvements  in  musical  notation,  were  contempo- 
raneous with  the  rise  and  progress  of  a  species  of 
poetry,  which  above  every  other,  ancient  and  mod- 
ern, possesses  the  characteristics  of  the  true  melody 
of  poetry ;  namely,  English  blank  verse.  This,  in 
the  uninterrupted  flow  of  a  varied  but  strictly  mea- 
sured movement,  in  other  words,  the  continuance  of 
a  tune  or  strain  throughout  the  whole  period,  how- 
ever protracted,  in  which  any  sentiment  is  uttered, 
as  far  surpasses  the  Hexameter  of  the  Greeks  and 
Latins,  in  which  each  line,  without  regard  to  the 
completion  of  the  sense,  was  a  full  tune  or  strain,  as 
that  ancient  verse  does  the  more  monotonous  heroic 
of  the  French,  with  its  unvarying  accent  and  pause 
at  the  middle  of  each  line.  But  it  must  suffice  to 
add  here  a  brief  corroboration  of  this  general  view  of 
a  very  interesting  topic,  in  the  language  of  an  excel- 
lent writer  of  the  last  century.  "  In  blank  verse  are 
united,  in  a  good  measure,  the  several  properties  of 
Latin  hexameters  and  English  rhyme :  and  it  pos- 
sesses besides  many  signal  properties  of  its  own.  It 
is  not  confined  like  hexameter  by  a  full  close  at  the 
end  of  every  line  ;  nor  like  rhyme,  by  a  full  close  at 
the  end  of  every  couplet.  Its  construction,  which 
admits  the  lines  to  run  into  each  other,  gives  it  a  still 
greater  majesty  than  arises  from  the  length  of  a  hex- 
ameter line.  By  the  same  means,  it  admits  inver- 
sion even  beyond  the  Latin  or  Greek  hexameter ;  for 
these  suffer  some  confinement  by  the  regular  closes  at 
the  end  of  every  line.  In  its  music,  it  is  illustrious 
above  all.   The  melody  of  hexameter  verse  is  circum- 


BLANK     VERSE.  81 

scribed  to  a  line  ;  and  of  English  rhyme  to  a  couplet 
[or  a  stanza].  The  melody  of  blank  verse  is  under 
no  confinement,  but  enjoys  the  utmost  privilege  of 
which  melody  of  verse  is  susceptible;  which  is  to 
run  hand  in  hand  with  the  sense.  In  a  word,  blank 
verse  is  superior  to  hexameter  in  many  articles ;  and 
inferior  to  it  in  none,  save  in  the  freedom  of  arrange- 
ment and  in  the  use  of  long  words."* 

These  observations  upon  the  natural  and  inti- 
mate connection  of  music  with  poetry  tend  to  estab- 
lish some  important  principles  respecting  the  true 
standard  of  modern  music.  Those  principles  will  be 
sufficiently  illustrated  by  a  brief  and  limited  appli- 
cation of  some  rules  of  criticism  founded  on  them. 

*  Encycl.  Britann. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    PROPER    STYLE    OF    SACRED    MUSIC. 

For  a  suitable  illustration  of  the  most  important  of 
those  grand  principles,  by  which  the  true  standard 
of  modern  music  has  been  denned,  the  chief  regard 
is  justly  due  to  sacred  music,  as  the  real  source  of 
all  that  is  most  excellent  in  the  cultivated  music  of 
modern  times. 

The  music  of  the  church,  then,  may  be  appro- 
priately considered  as  including  these  three  classes 
of  compositions— the  Chant,  the  Anthem,  and  the 
Metrical  Tune.  And  in  each  of  these  departments 
of  sacred  music  there  is  much  opportunity  for  the 
application  of  principles  of  good  taste  and  rules  of 
sound  criticism,  derived  from  the  analogy  between 
music  and  the  other  liberal  and  fine  arts  of  rhetoric 
and  poetry,  and  sculpture  and  painting. 

The  Chant,  in  some  form,  is  doubtless  the  most 
ancient  species  of  sacred  music.  Before  the  inven- 
tion of  the  time-table,  while  the  movements  of  vocal 
music  depended  entirely  upon  the  laws  of  prosody, 
all  singing,  even  of  metrical  language,  must  have 
partaken  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  that  kind  which 
is  now  called  chanting.     Whether,  indeed,  the  mere 


THE     CHANT.  83 

circumstance  of  antiquity  can  be  justly  deemed  an 
excellence  in  music,  may  be  safely  doubted,  in  view 
of  the  vast  improvements  which  have  been  made, 
both  in  the  science  and  the  art  of  music,  within  the 
last  four  centuries.  But  though  the  chant  is  the 
most  ancient  species  of  sacred  music,  it  is  not,  for 
that  reason,  to  be  pronounced  actually  inferior,  for 
the  great  purposes  of  such  music,  to  the  anthem  and 
the  metrical  tune.  The  comparative  value  of  these 
several  departments  of  the  music  of  the  Church  de- 
pends far  more  upon  other  circumstances  than  upon 
their  antiquity  or  their  novelty.  In  fact,  the  modern 
chant  is  quite  different  from  the  ancient  chant ;  as 
in  other  respects, — movement,  for  instance, — so  espe- 
cially in  the  important  results  of  the  recent  discovery 
and  improvement  of  the  science  of  harmony.  The 
difference  between  the  two  is  so  great,  that  the  sim- 
ple melodies,  commonly  called  the  Gregorian  tones, 
are,  under  the  hand  of  an  organist,  no  longer  the 
Gregorian  music,  except  in  the  mere  name.  Clothed 
in  regular  harmony,  so  far  as  they  will  admit  of  such 
improvement,  they  are  nothing  else  than  modern 
music,  to  all  intents  and  purposes.  And  the  idea  of 
adopting  the  Gregorian  tones,  improved  by  modern 
harmony,  in  order  to  assimilate  the  music  of  the 
church  to  that  of  the  sixth  or  seventh  century,  is  a 
mere  fiction  of  the  fancy.  But  the  difference  be- 
tween the  ancient  and  the  modern  chant,  and  be- 
tween the  Gregorian  music  and  the  more  ancient 
Ambrosian,  will  be  more  fitly  shown  in  another 
place. 

As  to  the  adaptation  of  the  Gregorian  tones,  in 


84  GREGORIAN     MUSIC. 

the  form  of  simple  melody,  to  the  purpose  of  intoning 
the  psalter,  and  other  portions  of  the  service  of  the 
church,  it  is  a  matter  which,  in  the  present  state 
of  cultivated  music,  belongs  rather  to  the  elocution- 
ist than  to  the  singer.    The  most  important  question 
concerning  it  is,  whether  it  was  not  more  practicable 
in  the  ancient  languages,  such  as  the  Hebrew,  Greek, 
and  Latin,  than  it  is  in  the  English  tongue?     Ano- 
ther very  pertinent  question  is,  whether  the  multipli- 
cation of  books  in  the  English  language,  and  of  per- 
sons able  to  read,  wherever  it  is  spoken,  does  not 
render  almost  nugatory  the  only  reason  ever  urged 
with  much  force,  for  singing  in  unison ;  namely,  that 
it  tends  to  secure  a  distinct  utterance  of  the  words 
used  ?     And  yet  another  inquiry  of  some  moment  is 
this :    What  parts  of  the  service   of  the  church  in 
English  are  really  suitable  to  be  read,  or  said,  in 
a  tone,  by  men,  who  would  make,  on  all  occasions, 
the  most  effectual  use  of  the  noble  faculty  of  speech  ? 
It  may  well  be  doubted,  whether  the  genius  of 
the  English  tongue  and  the  dictates  of  good  taste  in 
the  use  of  it  will  admit  of  any  attempt  at  such  musi- 
cal reading  or  speaking  as  Augustine  calls  pronounc- 
ing, where  he  says  that  Athanasius  made  the  reader 
of  the  psalm  in  the  church  of  Alexandria  to  sound  it 
with  so  little  variation  of  tone,  that  it  was  nearer  to 
pronouncing  than  to  singing.    That  by  pronouncing 
he  meant  scanning,  or  a  mode  of  reading  like  that  in 
which  Latin  and  Greek  poetry  was  anciently  re- 
hearsed, according  to  the  measure  of  its  feet,  has 
been  already  shown,  by  his  own  use  of  the  same 
word  in  other  places.     And  it  is  well  known  from 


ALEXANDRIAN     MUSIC.  85 

the  declarations  of  Cicero  and  Q,uintilian,  that 
among  the  ancient  Latins,  at  least,  prose  as  well  as 
poetry  was  often  thus  scanned,  or  pronounced  with 
a  measured  movement,  by  some  of  the  most  accom- 
plished speakers.*  But  the  English  language,  even 
in  the  most  melodious  of  its  poetry,  does  not  admit 
of  such  distinction  of  short  and  long  syllables  as  is 
essential  to  scanning,  and  much  less  in  its  prose. 
And  therefore,  while  the  Alexandrian  chant  of  Atha- 
nasius,  though  as  music  but  little  superior  to  such 
scanning  of  Latin  prose,  may  have  been  on  account 
of  its  agreeable  rhythm,  very  fair  music  for  that  age,t 
the  intoning  of  English  prose,  in  apparent  imitation 

*  Cassiodorus  also,  in  the  sixth  century,  speaks  of  rhythm,  as  if  it 
were  then  observed  even  in  speaking.  He  says  that  the  natural 
rhythm  of  the  living  voice  (animatae  voci)  preserves  a  beautiful  mel- 
ody, if  it  aptly  hold  the  rests  (apte  taceat),  fitly  speak  again  (congru- 
enter  loquatur),  and  by  the  way  of  the  accent  march  along  {gradiatur) 
with  musical  feet  and  a  well  regulated  sound  (musicus  pedibus  compo- 
sita  voce).    Variar.,  p.  77.  Ed.  Par.  1583. 

t  Both  Hawkins  and  Burney  seem  to  have  been  very  careless  in 
some  of  their  allusions  to  the  music  of  ancient  Christians.  Hawkins 
confounds  the  Ambrosian  music  of  Milan  with  the  Athanasian  of 
Alexandria  (Vol.  I.,  p.  343),  making  Ambrose  to  say  of  his  own  what 
Augustine,  by  way  of  contrast  to  that,  says  of  the  Athanasian  ;  and 
erroneously  ascribing  to  Augustine  a  preference  for  the  latter  (Vol. 
III.,  pp.  58,  59) ;  mistakes  which  the  imperfect  account  of  Bingham 
(L.  XIII.  c.  1)  might  correct.  In  another  place,  Prelim.  Disc,  p.  53,  he 
speaks  of  "  scattered  hints,"  given  by  Augustine  and  by  Bede,  on  a 
subject  which  even  the  former  sets  forth  quite  fully,  and  with  a  good 
degree  of  precision,  namely,  the  transfer  of  the  prosody  of  poetry  to 
music.  See  Augustine  De  Mus.,  passim.  Burney  treats  the  Bishop 
of  Hippo  still  more  slightingly,  but  perhaps  more  safely  and  prudently ; 
having  evidently  neglected  to  read  thoroughly  all  that  even  this  one 
of  the  ancient  fathers  had  written  about  music. 


86  THE    ENGLISH    CHANT. 

of  such  music  or  musical  speech,  may  be  nothing 
less  than  a  puerile  perversion  of  a  language,  which, 
in  its  whole  structure  and  by  its  very  genius,  is 
adapted  and  restricted,  according  to  the  dictates  of 
good  taste,  to  a  very  different  use  of  musical  sounds. 

But  whatever  might  be  said,  in  a  full  discussion 
of  these  points  of  ecclesiastical  elocution,  it  is  certain, 
that  the  English  language  is  very  suitable  for  chant- 
ing  ;  according  to  the  style  in  which  this  species  of 
music  has  been  generally  practised  in  the  canticles 
of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  From  the  period  of 
the  Reformation  there  have  never  been  wanting 
excellent  strains  of  sublime  harmony,  admirably 
adapted  to  such  sentiments  as  those  of  the  Venite, 
the  Jubilate,  the  Magnificat  and  the  Benedictus. 
And  if,  by  any  means,  a  good  series  of  the  most  sub- 
stantial of  those  chants  which  have  acquired  a  cha- 
racter as  standards  of  musical  composition,  could  be 
brought  into  general  use  in  parishes  which  give  some 
commendable  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  sacred 
music,  there  would  be  but  little  further  to  be  desired 
by  such  parishes  in  this  respect. 

Unhappily,  however,  the  increasing  popularity  of 
this  species  of  music  tempts  many  mere  dabblers  to 
try  their  hand  continually  at  the  composition  of 
chants  ;  often,  indeed,  before  they  have  learned  the 
first  principles  of  good  chanting.  On  this  account, 
there  is  already  much  occasion  to  apply  to  this 
department  of  sacred  music  the  most  stringent  prin- 
ciples of  criticism  suggested  by  the  analogy  between 
music  and  rhetoric.  And  the  most  important  object 
of  such  criticism  is  to  prune  away,  on  the  one  hand. 


ANOMALOUS     MUSIC.  87 

many  chants  that  are  utterly  destitute  of  such  sim- 
plicity as  this  species  of  music  requires  ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  many  that  are  intolerably  meagre,  through 
want  of  full,  close  and  rich  harmony  ;  which,  either 
expressed  or  implied,  is  absolutely  necessary,  to 
stamp  upon  any  composition  the  great  crowning 
quality  of  perfect  unity. 

Nothing,  however,  connected  with  this  depart- 
ment of  sacred  music  is  more  worthy  of  censure, 
than  a  certain  class  of  very  popular  pieces,  which, 
founded  upon  the  chant,  but  rising  somewhat  above 
it  in  point  of  variety,  and  aspiring  to  some  of  the 
embellishments  of  metrical  tunes,  yet  fall  far  short 
of  the  dignity,  stateliness  and  grandeur  of  the  com- 
plete anthem.  These  heterogeneous  compositions 
should  be  ever  deemed  an  abomination  in  the  sanc- 
tuary, and  doomed  to  speedy  expulsion,  whenever 
they  are  rashly  introduced  through  the  conceit  of 
tyros  in  musical  science.  They  frequently  creep  in, 
under  the  form  of  introductory  sentences,  arrayed  in 
a  garb  utterly  unsuitable.  And  sometimes  they 
boldly  usurp  the  place  of  regular  chants.  Nothing 
should  be  at  any  time  allowed  in  a  chant,  and  used 
as  a  chant,  that  is  not  quite  level  to  the  capacity  of 
persons  of  ordinary  skill  in  music.  And  if,  occa- 
sionally, or  even  statedly,  in  such  a  hymn  as  the  Te 
Deum,  more  elaborate  music  be  admitted,  it  should 
be  some  finished  work  of  a  truly  competent  com- 
poser ;  and  yet  for  ordinary  use,  so  arranged  as  to  be 
easily  performed  by  singers  of  moderate  attainments. 
Nor  would  such  chaste,  classical  strains  of  elaborate 


88  THE     ANTHEM. 

music  be  unsuitable  for  other  hymns  and  canticles 
upon  special  occasions  and  great  festivals. 

On  such  occasions,  at  least,  might  well  be  intro- 
duced the  most  perfect  species  of  music,  the  complete 
anthem.  With  regard  to  this  department  of  music, 
indeed,  it  is  not  necessary  here  to  speak  at  large  ;  the 
present  state  of  musical  art  in  this  country  being 
such  as  rarely  to  introduce  any  thing  really  worthy 
of  the  name  of  an  anthem  into  our  religious  services. 
In  the  cathedrals  of  the  venerable  Church  of  England, 
however,  and  to  some  extent  in  its  parish  churches 
also,  this  has  been,  from  the  period  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, a  prominent  and  important  department  of  sacred 
music*     The  contributions  of  the  English  masters 

*  Witness  the  following  advertisements  from  a  late  English  paper  : 

Services  and  Anthems  for  the  present  Week  at  Lichfield 
Cathedral. — Tenth  Sunday  after  Trinity :  Aldrich  in  G  throughout  ; 
"  Lord  of  all  power,"  (Mason  ;)  and  "  Lord,  what  is  man,"  (Handel.) 
Monday :  Warsh  in  D,  and  Wyse  in  E  ;  "  Let  the  words,"  (Calcott ;) 
and  "  Blessed  be  thou,"  (Kent.)  Tuesday:  Nares  in  D,  and  Aldrich 
in  E  minor ;  "  O  Lord  grant  the  King,"  (Nares,)  and  "  We  will  re- 
joice," (Croft.)  Wednesday :  Tallis  in  D,  and  Dupuis  in  F  ;  "I  will 
arise,"  (Creyghton ;)  and  "  I  will  sing  of  Thy  power,"  (Greene.) 
Thursday :  Jer.  Clark  in  G,  and  Greene  in  C  ;  "  Blessing  and  glory,!' 
(Boyce,)  and  "  God  is  gone  up,"  (Croft.)  Friday  :  Bevin  in  D,  and 
Childe  in  E  minor ;  "Lord  for  thy  tender  mercies,'  (Farrant,)  and 
"Blessed  is  he,"  (Nares.)  Saturday:  Rogers  in  G;  Old  Hundredth 
Psalm,  (Tallis  ;)  and  "  Grant,  we  beseech  Thee,"  (Calcott.) 

Services  and  Anthems  for  the  Ensuing  Week,  at  Lichfield 
Cathedral. — Eleventh  Sunday  after  Trinity :  Gibbons  in  F  through- 
out ;  "  My  God,  look  upon  me,"  (Reynolds,)  and  "  God  is  our  hope," 
(Greene.)  Monday :  Barrow  in  F ;  "  Try  me,"  (Nares,)  and  "  O 
Lord  God  of  my  salvation,"  (Jer.  Clark.)  Tuesday :  Porter  in  D ; 
"  Behold  how  good  and  joyful,"  (Porter,)  and  "  O  give  thanks,"  full, 


ITS     OEIGIN.  89 

to  this  department  of  their  national  music  embrace 
many  truly  classical  productions  ;  such  as  will  never 
suffer  from  comparison  with  the  masses  and  motetts 
prepared  by  continental  composers  for  the  Romish 
services ;  if  regard  be  had  rather  to  the  important 
characteristics  of  true  sublimity,  and  genuine,  chaste 
beauty,  than  to  the  temporary  effect  of  operatic  con- 
ceits, dramatic  design,  and  meretricious  ornament. 
And  were  the  musical  taste  of  this  country  such  as 
to  justify  the  publication  of  a  good  collection  of  those 
magnificent  anthems,  the  progress  thus  indicated  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  highest  species  of  music  would 
be  but  the  first  step  in  a  course  of  very  desirable  im- 
provement, as  yet  unknown,  and  almost  unsought. 

By  the  term  anthem*  is  denoted,  at  the  present 
day,  an  elaborate  musical  composition,  which  bears 
a  relation  to  the  chant,  somewhat  similar  to  that  al- 
ready traced  between  blank  verse  and  more  restricted 
forms  of  poetry.     As  rhyme,  for  instance,  is  confined 


(Boyce.)  Wednesday:  Creyghton  in  E  plain;  "Bow  Thine  ear," 
(Byrde,)  and  "  O  worship,"  (Hayes.)  Thursday :  Childe  in  F ; 
"  Glory  be  to  God  on  high,"  (Loosmore,)  and  "  Hear  my  prayer," 
(Stroude.)  Friday  :  Childe  and  Rogers,  in  A,  minor  ;  "  Almighty 
and  everlasting,"  (Gibbons),  and  "  Thou  shalt  open,"  (Porter.)  Sa- 
turday :  Byrde  in  D,  and  Blow  in  G ;  "  O  Lord,  grant  the  King," 
(Childe,)  and  "  O  how  amiable,"  (Richardson.) 

*  By  this  term  some  writers  mean  simply  Antiphon,  from  which 
the  name  of  the  modern  anthem,  but  only  the  name,  is  said  by  others 
to  have  been  derived.  Hawkins  says  that  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
Dr.  Tye  began  to  set  to  music  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  verse.  But 
not  being  successful  in  that,  he  began  to  write  more  elaborate  music 
for  portions  of  the  Psalms  in  prose,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
English  Anthem. 


90  PERFECT     MUSIC. 

to  couplets,  or  to  stanzas  which  do  not  often  in  the 
more  simple  metres  of  English  verse  exceed  four 
lines,  so  the  chant  is  confined  to  two,  or  four,  short 
phrases  of  notes.  And  as  the  melody  of  blank  verse 
may  run  hand  in  hand  with  the  sense  through  many 
lines  without  interruption,  filling  up  a  whole  period, 
however  protracted,  so  the  anthem  may  contain  many 
phrases  and  strains  of  notes,  variously  modulated 
with  much  skill,  and  repeated  and  protracted,  with 
great  scope  of  expression  and  significance.  It  need 
not,  indeed,  be  always  intricate  in  its  design ;  nor  in 
its  structure  highly  embellished.  It  may  be  very 
simple  as  respects  contrivance,  and  yet  highly  effect- 
ive ;  apparently  meagre  in  its  several  melodies,  and 
yet  truly  sublime,  through  its  grand  combination  of 
them  in  a  full  flow  of  genuine  harmony ;  impercepti- 
bly bringing  all  the  best  powers  of  music  to  bear 
upon  its  grand  object  of  soothing  and  elevating  the 
soul,  and  thus  realizing  to  the  utmost  the  great  fun- 
damental maxim  of  good  taste  in  all  the  fine  arts, 
that  the  perfection  of  art  is  to  conceal  artifice.  It  is 
unquestionable,  that  the  eloquence  of  the  pulpit  opens 
a  wide  field  for  the  legitimate  introduction  of  all 
those  ornaments  of  style  and  maimer,  that  are  con- 
sistent with  the  dignity  and  purity  of  sacred  oratory, 
which  is  the  highest  form  of  the  art  of  persuasion. 
In  like  manner  does  the  preparation  of  the  genuine 
anthem  afford  ample  scope  for  the  highest  talents 
of  composers  of  music,  and  for  the  display  of  all 
such  ornaments,  both  of  harmony  and  melody,  as 
are  conducive  to  true  sublimity  and  pure  beauty. 
And  the  performance  of  this  species  of  music,  in  a 


THE     ORATORIO.  91 

fitting  manner,  is  not  less  adapted  to  elevate  the  mo- 
ral tone  and  animate  the  religions  sentiment  of  Chris- 
tian congregations,  than  to  entertain  their  cultivated 
taste,  and  gratify  their  enlightened  sensibility. 

It  does  not  come  within  the  plan  of  this  work  to 
consider  at  large  the  character  and  claims  of  the 
oratorio.  This  department  of  musical  science  and 
art  might  doubtless  justly  claim,  above  every  other, 
the  honor  of  the  most  immediate  and  legitimate  con- 
nection with  those  improvements  which  have  been 
clearly  traced  under  a  former  head  to  the  zeal  and 
taste  of  ancient  Christians;  improvements  which 
constitute  the  basis  of  all  cultivated  music  in  modern 
times.  To  establish  this  claim  of  the  oratorio,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  prove  that  this  species  of  sacred 
music  was  really  of  earlier  origin  than  the  secular 
music  of  the  modern  opera.  Be  the  truth  what  it 
may,  with  regard  to  the  question  of  priority,  yet  it  is 
certain  that  those  portions  of  operatic  music  which 
form,  in  general,  the  most  effectual  attraction  and 
support  of  the  modern  stage,  namely,  its  overtures, 
symphonies,  and  choral  performances,  are  under  in- 
alienable obligations  to  the  progress  of  sacred  music, 
and  its  influence  upon  the  science  of  harmony  ;*  of 
which  the  oratorio,  or  epic  anthem,  is  the  legitimate 
and  natural  fruit.  This  is  a  very  important  and  in- 
teresting fact.  It  is  a  fact  which  truly  intelligent 
and  considerate  musicians  can  hardly  recall  to  mind, 
without  realizing  in  the  heedless  ingratitude  and  fre- 
quent impieties  of  the  patrons  of  the  drama,  the  fable 

*  Burney,  passim. 


92  IMPROPER     VOLUNTARIES. 

of  the  viper  stinging  with  venomous  fang  the  bosom 
that  warmed  it  into  life. 

But  the  wrong  thus  done  to  sacred  music  is  often 
sadly  aggravated  by  the  misconduct  of  some  of  its 
most  prominent  directors,  who  indirectly  inflict  a  sim- 
ilar injury  upon  its  holy  cause.  Hardly  could  greater 
injustice  be  done  to  its  high  claims  as  an  independent 
and  most  richly  endowed  department  of  music,  than 
is  done  by  many  organists ;  while,  overlooking  the 
sublime  strains  of  truly  ecclesiastical  music,  provided 
in  profusion  by  the  masters  of  the  world,  they  intro- 
duce in  their  miscalled  voluntaries,  scraps  and  shreds 
of  the  operatic  composures  of  musical  gold-beaters  ; 
whose  highest  art  is  to  draw  out  the  precious  sub- 
stance of  genuine  sacred  harmony  to  the  utmost  de- 
gree of  availability,  for  the  use  of  those  who  can  only 
shine  with  a  borrowed,  temporary  lustre.  Well  may 
intelligent  Christians,  under  such  circumstances,  be 
excused  the  erroneous  impression,  that  the  church  is 
rather  indebted  to  the  world  for  good  music,  than 
the  world  to  the  church.  But  a  more  palpable  defi- 
ciency of  good  taste  could  hardly  be  manifested  by 
organists  ;  who,  endowed  with  opportunities  to  pro- 
duce the  highest  effects  of  the  sublime  and  the  truly 
beautiful  in  the  noble  art  of  music,  yet  expend  their 
powers  and  prostitute  their  high  faculties  to  startle 
and  amuse  vain  and  thoughtless  visitors  of  the  house 
of  God. 

Probably  the  most  effectual  remedy  of  such  evils 
and  wrongs  might  be  found  in  the  diligent  cultiva- 
tion and  stated  introduction  of  the  genuine  English 
anthem  ;  in  the  elevating  effect  of  its  chaste  strains  of 


METRICAL     TUNES.  93 

graceful  melody,  duly  attired  with  the  becoming  dra- 
pery of  rich,  full  harmony,  majestically  flowing  forth 
in  ample  folds  of  concord  grand  and  grave.  A  due 
acquaintance  of  Christian  congregations  with  this 
species  of  music  would  soon  result  in  a  truly  refined, 
as  well  as  purely  religious  taste.  A  public  sentiment 
would  soon  be  formed,  which  would  admit  as  volun- 
taries in  the  house  of  God  none  but  genuine  ecclesi- 
astical compositions  ;  rendering  all  others,  whether 
brought  from  the  latest  opera,  or  wantonly  tripping 
into  church,  in  the  form  of  some  popular  waltz,  as 
insipid  and  intolerable  as  they  are  improper. 

In  this  application  of  the  principles  of  criticism 
and  good  taste,  the  most  important  department  of 
sacred  music  is  that  of  the  Metrical  Tune.  It  is 
most  important  to  consider  this  particularly,  because 
it  is,  in  this  country,  as  yet,  the  predominant  depart- 
ment, and  the  most  defective.  There  is,  indeed, 
reason  to  fear  that  the  frequent  and  serious  defects 
of  metrical  tunes  in  general  at  the  present  day  have 
had  a  tendency  to  prejudice  many  against  this  spe- 
cies of  music  ;  as  though  it  were  quite  unworthy  to 
be  connected,  in  divine  service,  with  the  solemnity 
and  grandeur  of  substantial  chants  and  majestic  an- 
thems. Nevertheless,  it  is  an  important  species  of 
music,  and  truly  worthy  of  diligent  cultivation. 

It  is  especially  agreeable  to  the  genius  of  English 
poetry ;  which  not  only  requires  perfect  accentual 
rhythm  of  feet,  but  also  favors  and  delights  in  rhyme, 
of  couplets  or  triplets,  and  in  much  variety  of  lyrical 
metre.  There  is  an  opinion  widely  prevalent,  that 
metrical   psalms   and  hymns  are  comparatively  a 


94  METRICAL     HYMNS. 

modern  addition  to  the  public  worship  of  Christians. 
But  it  is  a  notion  founded  on  a  very  superficial  ex- 
amination of  the  sacred  music  of  the  primitive 
church.  There  is  not  the  slightest  show  of  positive 
evidence,  that  the  early  Christians  entirely  neglected 
the  use  of  metrical  hymns,  at  a  period  when  the 
vocal  music  of  all  cultivated  nations  was  in  a  great 
degree  identified  with  metrical  language.  And  if 
they  had  done  so,  it  would  not  be  manifest,  that 
modern  Christians,  in  nations  which  have  largely 
introduced  into  their  poetical  language  an  element 
that  may  safely  be  called  new,  namely  rhyme,  ought 
to  reject  this  peculiarity  of  their  own  tongues  from 
all  their  sacred  songs.  For,  in  the  Hebrew  of  the 
inspired  psalms  of  David,  one  of  the  peculiarities  of 
ancient  poetry,  namely  alliteration,  which  is  adapted, 
like  rhyme,  to  aid  the  memory,  frequently  makes  its 
appearance  ;  and  doubtless  in  connection  with  other 
peculiarities  of  Hebrew  poetry,  which  are  not  appre- 
ciated by  modern  scholars.  But  there  is  not  wanting 
abundant  testimony  in  early  records  of  the  church 
to  warrant  the  assertion,  that  in  the  primitive  ages 
metrical  hymns  were  composed  both  by  the  Greek 
and  the  Latin  fathers,  as  well  for  the  public  services 
of  Christians  as  for  their  private  and  domestic  devo- 
tions. And  at  that  time  the  versions  of  Greek  and 
Latin  prose,  into  which  the  psalms  and  other  poetical 
portions  of  the  Old  Testament  were  translated,  gave 
far  more  scope  for  the  practice  of  musical  rhythm,  and 
pleasing,  flowing  melody  in  those  parts  of  the  ancient 
psalmody,  than  can  be  found  in  the  English  lan- 
guage, without  its  lyrical  metres  and  its  varied  stan- 


THEIR     ORIGIN.  95 

zas  of  rhyme.  A  brief  view,  therefore,  of  the  most 
prominent  evidences  of  the  use  of  metrical  psalms 
and  hymns  by  the  early  Christians  will  suffice  for 
the  purpose  of  this  argument. 

In  the  first  place  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  worthy  of  notice.  The  animating  exhorta- 
tion which  St.  Paul  gave  to  the  Ephesians,  as  a 
quotation,  in  these  words,  "Awake  thou  that  sleepest, 
and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee 
light,"*  forms,  in  the  Greek,  a  beautiful  strain  of  lyric 
metre.  Nor  can  it  be  justly  deemed  an  unwarrant- 
able conjecture,  that  the  passage  may  have  been  a 
metrical  paraphrase  of  the  corresponding  language 
of  Isaiah,t  employed  in  the  religious  worship  of 
Christians  during  the  apostolic  age. 

He  must  be  therefore  a  bold  critic,  who  would  con- 
tend that  the  Greek  term  w&u?  (literally  odes),  used 
by  St.  Paul,  in  Eph.  v.  19  and  Coloss.  hi.  16,  and 
rendered  in  our  English  Bible  by  the  word  "  songs," 
must  not  be  taken  to  include  metrical  compositions 
in  any  language.  For  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  in  two 
other  passages  of  the  New  Testament  which  contain 
the  same  term,  with  examples  of  its  meaning,  what 
is  called  by  the  sacred  writer  a  song  or  ode,  can 
hardly  be  read  by  a  good  scholar  with  due  regard  to 
the  rhythmical  quantity  and  convenient  contractions 
of  the  Greek  language,  and  not  display  the  stately 
movement  of  iambic  metre.! 

In  connection  with  this  scriptural  testimony,  that 
of  Philo  Judeeus,  who  wrote  in  the  days  of  the  in- 

*  Eph.  v.  14.  t  Isa.  Ix.  1.  X  Rev.  v.  9,  and  xv.  3. 


96  PRIMITIVE     HYMNS. 

spired  apostles,  may  well  be  introduced,  with  the 
comments  of  Eusebius,  who  expressly  applies  what 
Philo  says  of  the  sacred  music  of  the  Therapeutae, 
for  a  description  of  the  usage  of  primitive  Christians 
in  this  respect.  Describing  some  of  the  practices  of 
the  Therapeutae,  Philo  says,  "  They  not  only  lead  a 
contemplative  life,  but  they  make  psalms  and  hymns 
to  God,  of  various  metres  and  melodies,  necessarily 
framing  them  in  the  more  grave  rhythms."*  "  And 
when  one  rising  up,  sings  a  hymn  made  to  God, 
either  a  new  one,  which  he  hath  made,  or  some  old 
one  of  the  ancient  poets  (for  the  poets  have  left  me- 
tres and  melodies  of  iambic  verse,  lyrics,  hymns 
spondaic,  sacrificial,  stationary,  festive,t  beautifully 
measured  in  stanzas  of  many  variations),  afterwards 
the  others  according  to  order,  in  a  beautiful  method ; 
all  the  multitude  hearing  in  silence,  except  when  it 
is  necessary  to  sing  the  concluding  strains  and  the 
chorus.  It  is  not  material  to  determine  here  whe- 
ther Philo  was  a  Christian  or  not.  Nor  is  it  neces- 
sary to  consider  whether  those  whom  he  calls  The- 
rapeutae were  Christians.  It  is  sufficient  for  the  pur- 
pose of  this  argument,  that  Eusebius,  who  wrote  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  declares  that 
the  work  of  Philo  just  cited  "  does  manifestly  con- 
tain all  the  ecclesiastical  rules"  which  were  to  that 
time  observed  among  Christians.  The  father  of 
ecclesiastical   history,   having   spoken   of  the   new 


*  P.  612.  Ed.  Paris,  1552.     Comp.  Hawkins,  Prel.  Disc,  p.  60. 
t  Some  of  the  terms  here  employed  by  Philo  can  hardly  be  ren- 
dered into  English. 


HYMNS     OF     THEEAPEUTA  97 

psalms  made  by  the  Therapeutse,  and  having  given 
in  brief  a  part  of  the  passage  just  cited  from  Philo, 
afterwards  refers  to  the  rest  of  it,  and  speaks  of  their 
holy  exercises  which  were  then  in  use  among  the 
Christians,  more  especially  about  the  feast  of  our 
Lord's  passion,  "  all  which,"  he  says,  "  the  man  men- 
tioned, diligently  and  accurately  describing  them, 
hath  related  in  his  writings  according  to  the  very 
manner  in  which  to  this  time  they  have  been  ob- 
served by  us  alone;  especially  mentioning  the  vigils 
of  the  great  solemnity,  and  the  holy  exercises  in 
them,  and  the  hymns  commonly  used  among  us ; 
and  how,  one  singing  and  playing*  with  rhythm  be- 
comingly, the  rest,  hearing  in  silence,  resound  in 
concert  the  last  parts  of  the  hymns."t  And  here, 
again,  it  is  not  material  to  determine  whether  Philo 
meant  by  the  great  solemnity,  as  Eusebius  under- 
stands him  to  mean,  the  festival  of  Easter,  with  the 
solemnities  of  Passion  Week  preceding,  or  the  Jewish 
Feast  of  Weeks,  or  Christian  Pentecost.  The  testi- 
mony of  Eusebius,  as  to  the  character  of  the  psalms 
and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs  used  by  the  early 
Christians,  is  in  any  case  the  same.  And  it  is  a  very 
explicit  testimony  to  the  fact,  that  metrical  psalms 
and  hymns  were  used  in  the  primitive  church,  even 
from  the  days  of  the  inspired  apostles  to  his  own 
time. 

The  learned  Valesius,  in  his  notes  on  Eusebius, 
does  indeed  express  a  doubt,  whether  ps;';ns  and 
hymns  of  human  composition  were  used  so  early  as 

*  Gr.  hrityaWovTos.  t  Hist.,  L.  II.,  c.  17. 

5 


98  PRIMITIVE     HYMNS. 

the  age  of  Philo,  in  the  days  of  inspiration ;  and 
also  remarks  upon  the  account  given  by  Pliny  the 
younger,  of  the  custom  of  Christians  in  his  day,  to 
say  one  with  another  by  turns  a  hymn  or  ode  to 
Christ,  as  unto  God,  that  "  there  is  a  difference  be- 
tween saying  and  composing  a  song  or  hymn."  But 
this  remark  is  set  aside  by  another  learned  editor,*  in 
his  note  upon  the  assertion  of  a  certain  writer  of  the 
second  century,  cited  by  Eusebius,  that  "the  psalms 
also  and  hymns  of  the  brethren,  written  at  the  begin- 
ning by  the  faithful,  do  set  forth  the  praises  of  Christ 
the  Word  of  God,  and  attribute  divinity  to  him." 
"  Hence,"  says  the  English  editor,  "  it  appears,  that 
'twas  an  ancient  custom  in  the  church  to  compose 
psalms  and  hymns  in  honor  of  Christ,"  and  adds  that 
"  Pliny,  in  his  epistle  to  Trajan  mentions  this  usage 
among  the  Christians,  as  we  have  already  observed."! 
And  the  same  view  of  this  subject  is  given  in  an- 
other place  by  Valesius  himself.  In  a  note  upon  a 
certain  passage  from  Dionysius,  cited  by  Eusebius, 
and  commending  Nepos,  an  Egyptian  bishop,  who 
was  heretical  in  some  points,  for  the  many  psalms 
and  hymns  he  composed,  with  which  many  of  the 
brethren  are  even  at  this  time  delighted,  he  speaks  of 
the  custom  of  the  ancient  Christians,  that  they  "  used 
to  compose  psalms  and  hymns  in  honor  of  Christ, 
as  Eusebius  in  the  end  of  the  fifth  book  attesteth."* 
In  the  same  place,  moreover,  this  learned  man  says, 
"  We  also  find  mention  of  these  hymns  in  the  Epistle 
of  the  Council  of  Antioch  against  Paul  of  Samosata, 

*  Shorting.  t  Id.,  p.  90.  X  Id.,  p.  129. 


CHRISTIAN     PSALMS.  99 

and  in  the  last  canon  but  one  of  the  council  of  La- 
odicea,  where  there  is  an  express  prohibition  that  no 
psalms  which  in  Greek  are  called  lSkotikol  (idiotikoi), 
that  is,  composed  by  private  or  ignorant  persons,  should 
be  sung  in  churches."  This  view,  therefore,  of  the 
testimony  of  Eusebius,  as  gathered  by  him  from  the 
history  of  Christianity  during  the  first  three  centu- 
ries, may  be  well  concluded  by  a  single  reference  to 
the  Epistle  against  Paul  of  Samosata.  The  very 
ground  of  his  condemnation,  with  respect  to  this  mat- 
ter was,  that  "  he  abolished  the  psalms,  which  were 
usually  sung  in  honor  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as 
novel  and  the  composures  of  modern  men."*  And 
in  view  of  this  abundant  and  plain  testimony  of  the 
great  historian  of  the  primitive  church,  it  is  needless 
to  consider  in  detail  the  corroborative  evidence  to  the 
same  effect,  furnished  by  the  efforts  of  Basil,  Chry- 
sostom,  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  others,  to  maintain 
and  disseminate  the  true  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  by 
means  of  psalms  and  hymns  of  human  composition, 
adapted  to  the  circumstances  and  emergencies  of  the 
church  at  particular  periods.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
observe,  how  guarded  and  discriminating  is  the  lan- 
guage in  which  Gregory  Nazianzen  speaks  of  such 
efforts,  and  of  the  caution  with  which  they  should  ever 
be  employed.  Alluding  to  the  numerous  psalms  and 
hymns  of  heretics,  he  says,  "  If  their  swelling  words, 
and  their  new  psalteries  contrary  to  that  of  David, 
and  their  elegance  of  metre  be  called  the  third  testa- 
ment, we  also  will  utter  psalms  and  write  many,  and 

*  Euseb.,  L.  VII.,  c.  30. 


100  ANCIENT     HYMNS. 

put  them  in  metre,  since  we  think  we  have  the  Spirit 
of  God,  if  indeed  this  be  the  grace  of  the  Spirit,  and 
not  a  human  novelty."*  But  by  the  phrase  "put 
them  in  metre,"  Gregory  manifestly  refers  to  the  va- 
riety of  elegant  metres  of  which  he  had  just  before 
spoken,  as  characteristic  of  the  psalms  and  hymns  of 
heretics  at  that  time.  For  he  could  not  have  intend- 
ed to  apply  the  term  novelties  to  "  the  more  grave 
rhythms"  of  which  Philo  speaks  in  the  passage  cited 
by  Eusebius.  And  with  this  single  remark  upon  his 
cautious  language,  which  expresses  the  most  serious 
objection  ever  made  by  any  of  the  ancient  Christians 
against  psalms  and  hymns  in  metre,  it  is  safe  to 
leave  the  testimony  of  the  Greek  fathers  upon  this 
subject. 

Preparatory,  however,  to  an  examination  of  the 
most  prominent  among  the  Latin  fathers,  some  im- 
portant points  in  the  history  of  Latin  literature  must 
be  briefly  considered. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  one  of  the  English  transla- 
torst  of  Eusebius  has  given  instead  of  the  word 
rhythms  in  the  phrase  just  repeated  from  Philo  the 
totally  different  term  rhymes.  It  does  not  appear 
that  rhymes,  or  the  termination  of  two  or  more  con- 
tiguous or  connected  lines  or  clauses  with  the  same 
sound,  obtained  any  place  in  the  writings  of  the  an- 
cient Greek  poets,  except  by  mere  accident  occasion- 
ally. Some  have,  indeed,  affirmed  with  slight  show 
of  evidence,  that  rhyme  was  not  only  a  characteristic, 
but  even  an  element  of  the  earliest  poetry  of  the  an- 

*  Orat.,  51.  t  Shorting. 


ORIGIN     OF     RHYME.  101 

cient  Latins.*  But  it  is  manifest  that  the  similar 
terminations  of  words  grammatically  connected  to- 
gether by  case  and  gender,  or  by  mood  and  tense,  in 
Latin,  would,  in  a  copious  and  compact  style,  mate- 
rially interfere  with  the  purity  and  power  of  rhyme, 
as  a  characteristic  of  certain  fixed  points  in  verses, 
and  thus  produce  at  once,  in  connection  with  rhym- 
ing terminations,  an  offensive  monotony,  and  an  ex- 
cessive jingle  of  similar  sounds.  Accordingly,  in  the 
classical  literature  of  the  ancient  Romans  of  the 
Augustan  age,  this  characteristic  of  the  lyric  poetry 
of  many  modern  nations  found  no  place,  except  by 
mere  accident,  or  as  an  occasional  fancy  of  some 
few  poets.  Nor  is  there  any  clear  and  conclusive 
evidence  of  its  admission  by  subsequent  Latin  wri- 
ters, prior  to  the  fifth  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  the  declension  of  Roman  literature  ;  even  the 
authenticity  of  the  famous  hymn  commonly  ascribed 
to  Damasus,t  bishop  of  Rome  in  the  fourth  century, 
being  liable  to  suspicion  ;  on  account  of  its  singular 
appearance  amid  the  multitude  of  hymns,  entirely 
destitute  of  all  trace  of  rhyme,  which  were  written 
by  Prudentius  and  others  at  the  same  period,  or  a 
little  later. 

Of  course,  therefore,  by  the  metrical  psalms  and 
hymns  of  the  ancient  Christians  are  never  to  be  un- 
derstood psalms  and  hymns  in  rhyme.  And  as  in 
this  particular,  so  also  in  others,  it  is  necessary  to 
observe  with  care  the  difference  between-  metrical 
psalms  and  hymns  in  ancient  Greek  and  Latin,  and 

*  Trench,  Sacr.  Lat.  Poetry,  Intr. 
t  "  Martyris  ecce  dies  Agathae." 


102  RHYTHM     AND     METRE. 

psalms  and  hymns  in  English  metre.  Happily,  some 
plain  definitions  and  distinctions  laid  down  by  Au- 
gustine in  his  treatise  on  music  furnish  all  the  infor- 
mation that  is  needed  upon  such  points  ;  few,  if  any, 
hymns  in  Latin  verse  of  an  earlier  age  than  that  of 
Augustine  and  Ambrose  being  now  extant. 

According  to  Augustine,  then,  a  plain  distinction 
was  recognized,  as  well  in  the  ecclesiastical  Latin  of 
the  early  Christians  as  in  the  classical  Latin  of  the 
Augustan  age,  between  rhythm  and  metre,  and  also 
between  metre  and  verse.  Neither  two  of  these  three 
things  were  the  same.  All  metre  was  rhythm,  but 
all  rhythm  was  not  metre.  And  all  verse  was  metre, 
but  all  metre  was  not  verse.*  The  term  rhythm 
had  reference  to  the  connection  of  syllables  as  short 
and  long,  or  of  one  and  two  times,  or  beats  ;t  and  to 
their  primary  and  most  simple  relations  in  feet; 
which  were  composed  of  two,  three,  or  four  syllables, 
either  short  or  long,  or  short  and  long  combined  in 
some  certain  order,  according  to  various  forms,  which 
were  distinguished  by  names,  or  technical  terms  of 
grammarians.  And  in  the  ecclesiastical  Latin  of 
that  early  period,  as  well  as  in  the  classical,  the 
principles  of  rhythm,  and  the  rules  for  the  measure  of 
syllables  as  short  and  long,  or  their  duration  through 
one  or  two  times  or  beats,  were,  in  general,  carefully 
observed,  not  only  in  poetry,  but  also  in  prose. X  Thus 
a  rhythm,  according  to  Augustine,  was  a  series  of 

*  L.  Ill.,c.  2. 

t  Quintilian  says,  "  That  a  long  syllable  is  of  two  times,  and  a 
short  of  one,  even  boys  know."     L.  IX. 

X  That  there  was  in  the  mere  enunciation  of  Latin  in  the  fourth 


METRE     AND     VERSE.  103 

feet,  of  corresponding  classes  continued  at  pleasure  ; 
but  constituting  a  certain  orderly,  musical,  and 
agreeable  succession  or  intermixture  of  short  and 
long  syllables.  A  metre,  however,  was  a  limited 
series  of  feet,  whieh,  having  extended  through  a  cer- 
tain number  of  times  or  beats,  that  might  be  filled  up, 
either  with  syllables  spoken  or  sung,  or  with  rests, 
returned  again  to  the  beginning  of  a  line,  strain  or 
tune.  And  a  verse  was  a  limited  series  of  feet,  whieh 
was  divided  into  two  members  by  a  certain  joint  or 
partition,  such  as  in  English  verse  is  called  the  cae- 
sural  point  or  pause.     These  definitions  and  distinc- 

century,  without  reference  either  to  singing  or  scanning,  a  refinement 
beyond  the  imitation  or  comprehension  of  modern  scholars,  is  manifest 
from  the  nice  distinction  which  Augustine  draws  between  the  Latin 
verb  pdne  and  the  adverb  ponh.  Both  consist  of  the  same  times 
(eisdem  temporibus),  and  the  same  letters  (eisdem  Uteris),  and  ac- 
cording to  Virgil,  a  favorite  authority  with  Augustine,  of  the  same 
quantity.  (See  Eel.,  L,  74.  Aen.,  XL,  366.  II.,  208,  725.)  Yet 
they  differed  in  enunciation,  because  they  had  the  accent  in  different 
places  (eo  distant  quod  in  diversis  locis  habent  acumen).  Aug.  De 
Mus  ,  L.  I.,  c.  1.  With  much  reason,  therefore,  do  the  Benedictine 
annotators  remark :  "  Hence  we  may  understand  how  badly  we  all 
at  this  day  pronounce  the  Latin  language,  and  how  faulty  especially 
is  our  reading  of  Latin  verse.  For  who  is  accustomed  to  pronounce 
pdne  and  pone  with  any  difference  between  the  two?"  Such  a  view 
of  the  scholarship  of  Augustine  should  seem  sufficient  to  have  shielded 
him  from  the  insinuations  of  the  sneering  Gibbon,  who  had  confessedly 
no  personal  acquaintance  with  any  of  his  voluminous  works  except 
his  Confessions  and  his  "  City  of  God"  Yet,  while  acknowledging 
that  the  close  of  the  third  century  was  an  age  far  from  being  destitute 
of  poetical  merit,  he  endeavors  to  disparage  the  scholarship  of  the 
Bishop  of  Hippo,  by  charging  him  with  ignorance  of  Greek  literature, 
just  after  the  lime  when  Julian  the  Apostate,  Gibbon's  favorite  Em- 
peror, had  forbidden  the  study  of  Greek  to  Christians.  But  see  on 
this  point,  August.  Retract.,  L.  L,  c.  7. 


104  PLAIN     CHANT. 

tions  are  largely  illustrated  and  much  insisted  on  by 
Augustine,  in  the  third  and  fourth  books  of  his  trea- 
tise on  music.  They  are  essential  to  a  clear  under- 
standing and  correct  statement  of  the  character  of 
ancient  psalmody,  and  the  music  of  the  early  Latin 
Christians  ;  which  included  rhythm,  metre  and  verse, 
according  to  these  definitions  and  distinctions.  And 
in  connection  with  these  remarks  upon  important 
points  in  the  history  of  Latin  literature,  some  ex- 
tended observations  must  be  made  concerning  the 
use  and  meaning  of  certain  Latin  words,  by  which 
some  of  the  music  of  ancient  Christians  is  frequently 
described. 

Many  writers  are  prone  to  adopt  a  mistransla- 
tion, or  a  misconstruction  of  the  Latin  phrase,  "  Can- 
tus  Firmus."  and  the  corresponding  Italian,  "  Canto 
Fermo,"  which  they  invariably,  but  incorrectly  ren- 
der or  explain  by  the  English  phrase  " plain  chant. n 
Thus  from  a  merely  superficial  comparison  of  ety- 
mological resemblances,  reasoning  mainly  from  the 
similar  sound  of  the  words  cantus,  canto,  and  chant, 
many  conclude  that  the  last  of  these  terms,  which 
is,  in  truth,  nothing  but  the  English  name  of  a  cer- 
tain species  of  English  music,  describes  what  was 
exclusively  the  ecclesiastical  music  of  the  sixth,  or 
at  least  of  the  seventh  century.  In  truth,  the  Eng- 
lish noun,  chant,  whatever  might  be  said  of  the 
poetical  use  of  the  same  word  as  a  verb,  does  not 
furnish  a  translation  of  the  Latin  term  cantus,  in 
any  of  the  senses  in  which  it  was  anciently  used. 
This  term,  in  classical  usage,  commonly  signified 
music  in    general,  instrumental  as  well  as  vocal. 


INSTRUMENTAL     CANTUS.  105 

Thus  Cicero  mentions  the  cantus,  or  music  of  trum- 
pets ;  Lucretius,  the  cantus  or  music  of  horns ;  Vir- 
gil, the  cantus  of  the  pipe,  the  conch,  the  horn,  and 
the  trumpet;  Horace,  the  cantus  of  the  harp  ;  Seneca, 
the  cantus  of  the  trumpet ;  and  Q,uintilian,  the  can- 
tus of  the  pipe  ;  and  Pliny,  by  implication,  speaks 
of  the  cantus  of  the  hydraulum  or  water-organ. 
Other  instances  of  such  use  of  this  term  by  classical 
writers  of  the  Augustan  age  might  be  cited.  In 
accordance  with  this  usage  of  the  pure  classics, 
Augustine  speaks  of  the  cantus  of  strings  and  pipes.* 
And  Prudentius,  one  of  the  latest  of  those  writers,  to 
whom  the  name  of  classical  Latins  can,  by  any 
means,  be  applied,  describes  the  music  of  various 
instruments  by  the  word  cantus. t  And  when,  in 
ancient  Latin,  this  word  signifies  vocal  music,  there 
is  nothing,  in  any  case,  to  limit  its  meaning  to  prose, 
much  less  to  such  music  or  language  as  that  of  a 
modern  chant  in  English  prose.  Indeed,  in  view  of 
what  Augustine  teaches  respecting  rhythm,  metre, 
and  verse,  and  the  observance  of  time  in  each  sylla- 
ble, as  short  or  long,  even  in  simple  rhythms,  and 
much  more  in  metres  and  verses,  it  may  well  be 
doubted,  whether  the  Latin  Christians  of  his  day 
had  any  idea  of  such  a  species  of  music  as  that  of 
our  English  chant,  with  the  tripping  movement  of 
its  recited  part,  not  marked  or  regulated  by  any  beat 
or  measure  of  time,  but  by  accent  or  emphasis  upon 
a  few  syllables,  separated  from  each  other  at  long 
intervals.  It  is  true,  that  some  writers  do,  upon 
certain  occasions,  employ  the  phrase  "  plain  chant,'1 

*  De.  Lib.  Arb.,  L.  II.  t  Apoth.,  II.,  14G,  7. 

5* 


106  CANTUS     FIRMUS. 

with  an  evident  restriction  to  a  peculiar  kind  of 
music  used  in  some  parts  of  the  service,  as  it  is  per- 
formed in  a  few  of  the  English  cathedrals  ;  music 
somewhat  similar  in  style  and  movement  to  the 
Cantus  Gregorianus,  as  used  in  the  middle  ages, 
and  applied  to  Latin  words  badly  pronounced.  But 
most  writers,  now-a-days,  at  least  in  this  country, 
use  the  phrase  "plain  chant"  without  such  limita- 
tion. And  many  persons,  consequently,  labor  under 
an  entire  misapprehension  as  to  the  claims  of  cer- 
tain kinds  of  music,  on  the  score  of  antiquity  ;  being 
not  only  widely  mistaken  as  to  the  character  of  the 
music  adopted  by  the  ancient  Christians,  in  their 
religious  worship,  but  also  strangely  misled  by  erro- 
neous views  respecting  the  proper  use  and  true 
meaning  of  the  comparatively  modern  phrase  now 
under  consideration. 

The  true  meaning  of  the  phrase  cantus  firmus 
is,  by  a  free  rendering  in  good  old  Saxon  words, 
easy  song.  In  this  sense,  the  Germans  often  apply 
the  phrase  cantus  firmus  to  the  leading  melody  of 
their  chorals,  or  plain  tunes  for  psalms  and  hymns 
in  metre  ;  not  only  such  tunes  as  were  often  con- 
structed on  the  basis  of  the  Gregorian  cantus  at  the 
period  of  the  Reformation,  but  others  more  recently 
composed.  Thus  they  would  call  the  leading  me- 
lody of  such  a  tune  as  Old  Hundredth  the  cantus 
firmus.  And  this  use  of  the  phrase  is  in  strict  accord- 
ance with  its  literal  meaning  and  its  original  appli- 
cation. Its  literal  meaning  is  firm  or  fixed  music  ; 
or  in  another  significant  Saxon  phrase,  strong  song. 
It  was  originally  applied,  at  a  period  comparatively 


GERMAN     PSALMODY.  107 

modern,  to  denote  the  tones  or  strains  that  were 
sung,  as  distinguished  from  the  valuable  accompani- 
ments of  rude  harmony,  sometimes  added  to  those 
strains  by  the  discant,  or  separate  tone,  which  formed 
the  only  accompaniment  afforded  by  the  organ,  upon 
its  first  introduction  into  the  services  of  the  church. 
And  sometimes  the  Germans  at  the  present  day  seem 
to  apply  the  phrase  cantus  firmus  especially  to  simple 
melodies,  which  are  sung  in  unison  by  all  voices, 
while  the  organist  plays  a  full  and  rich  harmony. 
But  in  Italian  and  French,  and  sometimes  in  Eng- 
lish and  German  editions  of  music  arranged  in  va- 
rious parts  for  different  voices,  the  leading  melody, 
which  is  assigned  to  the  soprano  or  treble  voices, 
and  is  the  part  least  liable  to  alteration  in  any  new 
arrangement  of  the  harmony,  is  termed  the  canto  ; 
the  epithet  fermo  being  omitted,  but  still  understood 
or  implied,  both  in  its  primary  sense  of  firm  or  fixed, 
and  its  secondary  meaning,  as  denoting  that  part  in 
any  composition,  whether  chant,  choral,  or  chorus, 
which  is  comparatively  the  easy  song — the  most 
conspicuous  and  familiar  part — the  strain  most  rea- 
dily distinguished  and  followed  by  those  who  sing 
by  rote  ;  commonly  called  the  air.  By  the  French, 
moreover,  the  term  chant  is  often  applied  not  only 
to  the  air  of  a  metrical  tune  for  hymns  in  rhyme  or 
for  any  lyrical  songs,  but  also  to  the  leading  melody 
of  a  piece  of  instrumental  music*  And  from  these 
observations,  several  points  of  some  moment  with 
regard  to  the  proper  use  of  the  phrase  cantus  firmus 
or  canto  fermo  are  manifest. 

*  "  Le  Chant  et  l'accompagnement  avec  le  mumc  main." 


108  GREGORIAN     CANTUS. 

This  phrase  cannot  with  propriety  be  applied  to 
the  music  of  such  chants,  in  parts,  of  modern  har- 
mony, as  are  sometimes  called  Gregorian ;  farther 
than  to  denote  the  original  melodies  of  those  chants, 
or  the  simple  Gregorian  tones,  considered  merely 
with  reference  to  the  intervals  of  the  notes.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  equally  applicable  to  the  leading 
melodies  of  any  other  chants,  or  even  of  chorals  and 
anthems.  And  it  originally  described  such  strains 
of  vocal  music  in  the  Latin  tongue  as  cannot  by 
any  means  be  produced  with  good  effect  in  the  use 
of  English  prose.  In  view  of  these  facts,  indeed,  it 
is  safe  to  affirm  that  even  the  cantus  of  Gregory,  in  its 
original  form,  was,  as  to  its  musical  effect,  both  upon 
the  hearers  and  the  singers,  more  similar  to  the  strains 
of  plain  tunes  for  iambic  metre  in  English  than  to 
chants  in  English  prose,  however  rhythmical  its 
phraseology.  And  in  this  respect  it  were  hardly 
possible  to  improve  the  admirable  version  of  the 
Psalter  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  as  respects  the  mere 
circumstance  of  antiquity,  even  the  cantus  of  Gre- 
gory rather  sustains  the  claim  of  metrical  tunes,  than 
that  of  the  modern  English  chant.  Accordingly, 
such  tunes,  sometimes  called  "  syllabic  psalmody,"* 
have  been  often  constructed  upon  the  basis  of  the 
Cantus  Gregorianus,  with  the  utmost  facility,  ever 
since  the  Reformation.  It  would  seem,  moreover, 
that  in  the  tenth  century  the  Gregorian  cantus,  by 
which  the  more  rhythmical  music  of  the  ancient 

*  Burney  and  Smith, 


SYLLABIC     PSALMODY.  109 

Christians  had  been  superseded,  was  applied  to 
Latin  hymns  in  rhyme,  called  prosae  or  proses  ; 
compositions,  in  which  some  of  the  laws  of  number* 
and  quantity  observed  in  the  prosody  of  the  ancient 
Greeks  and  Romans  were  neglected.  Probably, 
however,  such  hymns,  often  quite  rhythmical  in  the 
structure  and  length  of  the  lines,  were  made  still 
more  so  by  the  skill  of  musicians,  constantly  striv- 
ing to  find  in  a  system  of  time  for  the  measure  of 
musical  phrases  and  strains,  some  reparation  for  the 
loss  of  ancient  metre  and  rhythm,  occasioned  by  the 
corruption  of  the  Latin  tongue  and  the  extensive 
banishment  of  verse  from  the  Roman  Church  in  the 
seventh  and  eighth  centuries.  And  they  may  be 
safely  regarded  as  a  constrained  concession  of  the 
opposers  of  psalms  and  hymns  in  verse  to  the  natu- 
ral and  intimate  connection  between  music  and 
poetry. 

But  this  was  more  fully  recognized  in  the  more 
ancient  cantus  of  Ambrose,  if  not  also  in  the  most 
ancient  music  of  the  primitive  Christians  ;  which, 
according  to  Baronius  as  well  as  Bona,  was  insti- 
tuted by  apostles  and  apostolic  men.  What  that 
most  ancient  music  of  the  Christian  church  was,  it 


*  Trench  says,  very  strangely,  that  "  the  Romans  counted  their 
syllables  and  did  not  measure  them,  a  certain  number  of  these  consti- 
tuting a  rhythm  ;  and  that  numeri  is  only  abusively  applied  to  verses 
that  rest  on  music  and  time,  and  not  on  the  number  of  syllables." — 
Sacr.  Lat.  Poetry,  Intr. 

This,  like  many  other  assertions  of  this  author,  is  directly  at  vari- 
ance with  the  plain  declarations  of  Augustine  and  other  ancient 
writers.     See  Quintil.  passim. 


110  AMBROSIAN     CANTUS, 

is  impossible  to  say  with  certainty.  Cardinal  Bona 
calls  it  simply  "  antiquum  cantum,"  the  ancient 
music.  The  important  testimony  of  Eusebius,  how- 
ever, may  contribute  to  explain  the  assertion  of  Du 
Cange,  that  the  Ambrosian  cantus  was  quite  differ- 
ent (omnino  alium)  from  the  Gregorian.  And  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  character  of  each,  as  to  their 
musical  tones,  and  their  comparative  merits,  there 
can  be  no  question  as  to  the  frequent  application  of 
the  Ambrosian  cantus  to  hymns  in  verse.  This  is 
fully  attested  by  Augustine,  who,  in  a  certain  place* 
giving  an  extract  from  some  verses  of  Ambrose,  says 
that  they  were  sung  "  by  the  mouth  of  many."  And 
in  another  place,  in  that  very  part  of  his  Confessions 
which  records  his  testimony  to  the  excellence  and 
power  of  the  music  adopted  by  Ambrose  in  the 
Church  of  Milan,  he  gives  two  stanzas  from  another 
beautiful  hymn  of  that  eminent  father. t  The  fact, 
that  hymns  in  verse  were  very  extensively  used  in 
the  Latin  Church  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries, 
is  also  explicitly  shown  by  the  language  of  Pruden- 
tius,  in  the  preface  to  his  Peristephanon,  where  he 
says,  "  We  consecrate  to  God  the  lively  iambics,  and 
the  whirling  trochaics,  of  less  sanctity  and  power  to 
console  the  afflicted.  But  God  approves  the  humble 
verse,  and  hears  it  graciously."  Of  this  fact,  indeed, 
as  well  as  the  mistake  of  those  who  are  wont  to 
think  of  such  hymns  as  a  modern  invention,  striking 
evidence  is  afforded  by  the  important  kindred  fact, 
that  when  Gregory,  in  the  sixth  century,  partially 

*  Retract.,  L.  I.,  c.  21.  t  "  Deu«  Creator  omnium." 


GREGORIAN     CANTUS.  Ill 

expelled  hymns  in  verse,  he  modified  the  Ambrosian 
cantus  so  materially  as  to  secure  for  his  own,  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,  the  appellation  of  Cantus  Ecclesi- 
asticus  renovatus*  or,  the  Ecclesiastical  Music  re- 
modelled. However,  it  does  not  appear,  after  all, 
that  Gregory  was  absolutely  and  unqualifiedly  op- 
posed to  hymns  in  verse.  At  all  events,  if  "  the  for- 
mula of  Gregory,"  given  by  Hawkins  from  Guido, 
be  authentic,  he  did  not  exclude  metres  from  the 
public  worship  of  the  church.t  And  according  to 
Du  Pin,  Walafridus  Strabo,  speaking  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal affairs  in  the  ninth  century,  says  that  the  name 
of  hymns  may  be  given  to  all  psalms  of  praise, 
though  they  be  not  in  verse  ;  and  that  there  are  a 
great  many  churches  where  they  are  never  sung  in 
verse. i  This  most  plainly  implies  that  for  two  or 
three  hundred  years  after  the  time  of  Gregory,  psalms 
and  hymns  in  verse  retained  a  place  in  many  por- 
tions of  the  Church  of  Rome.  And  of  course  they 
were,  for  the  most  part,  sung  to  that  music  which  is 


*  Du  Cange,  verb.  Cantus. 

t  The  language  of  Guido  himself,  as  cited  by  Hawkins,  I.,  453,  is 
appropriate  here.  He  says  that  "  a  cantus  is  said  to  be  metrical 
when  it  scans  truly ;  which,  if  it  be  right,  it  will  do,  even  if  sung  by 
itself.  The  resemblance  between  metres  and  songs  [melodies]  is  not 
small,  for  neumas  answer  to  feet,  and  distinctions  to  verses."  He 
says,  also,  that  "  neumas  should  correspond  to  neumas, and  distinctions 
to  distinctions,  according  to  the  perfectly  sweet  method  of  Ambro- 
sius."  Cassiodorus  also,  who  was  a  Christian  of  the  sixth  century, 
speaks  of  the  two  principal  metres,  Hexameter  and  Iambic,  in  terms 
quite  consistent  with  what  is  here  suggested  concerning  Gregory,  and 
the  Gregorian  music  in  its  original  state.     Variar.,  p.  77. 

t  Du  Pin.  Vol.  VII.,  p.  167. 


112  AMBKOSIAN     CANT  US. 

described  by  the  phrase  Cantus  Gregoria?ius,  this 
having  been,  from  the  reign  of  Charlemagne,  in  the 
eighth  century,  very  generally  established  in  the 
Roman  jurisdiction  by  pains  and  penalties ;  even, 
according  to  Du  Cange,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Am- 
brosial! cantus  from  the  Church  of  Milan  ;  notwith- 
standing the  decision  of  a  special  council  called  by 
Pope  Adrian,  that  the  music  instituted  by  Ambrose 
might  be  retained  in  that  church."* 

It  is  impossible  to  determine  with  certainty  the 
comparative  merits  of  these  two  systems  of  music ; 
which,  having  to  some  extent  a  common  character 
and  a  common  use,  were  yet  distinguished  by  some 
important  differences,  not  precisely  defined  by  any 
ecclesiastical  records,  or  treatises  on  music.t     Many 


*  Hawkins,  in  an  account  of  that  council,  taken  from  Durandus, 
says,  Vol.  I.,  p.  375,  that  "it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all,  that 
the  Ambrosian  and  Gregorian  missals  should  be  laid  upon  the  altar  of 
St.  Peter  the  Apostle,  secured  by  the  seals  of  most  of  the  Bishops, 
and  the  doors  of  the  church  shut,  and  that  all  persons  present  should 
spend  the  night  in  prayer  that  God  would  show  by  some  sign  which 
of  these  missals  he  chose  to  have  used  by  the  church ;  and  this  was 
done  in  every  respect.  Accordingly,  in  the  morning  when  they  en- 
tered the  church,  they  found  the  Gregorian  Missal  torn  to  pieces  and 
scattered  here  and  there,  but  they  found  the  Ambrosian  only  open 
upon  the  altar  in  the  same  place  where  it  had  been  laid.  By  which 
sign  they  were  taught  from  heaven  that  the  Gregorian  office  ought  to 
be  dispersed  throughout  the  whole  world,  and  that  the  Ambrosian 
should  be  observed  only  in  that  church  in  which  it  was  first  insti- 
tuted "■!!!  The  advocates  of  the  Ambrosian  Cantus  were  probably 
glad  to  secure  even  such  a  favor  at  the  hands  of  such  a  council ! 

t  Hawkins,  or  his  printer,  makes  a  strange  contradiction  and  con- 
fusion about  the  Ambrosian  and  the  Gregorian  Cantus.  He  says, 
Vol.  I.  p.  348,  that  the  Ambrosian  tones  which  he  calls  Authentic, 


GREGORIAN     CANTUS.  113 

writers  represent  the  Gregorian  cantus  as  an  im- 
provement upon  the  Ambrosian,  and  a  species  of 
music  superior  in  smoothness,  sonorousness,  and  at- 
tractive variety.*  But  whatever  may  have  been  its 
original  character,  there  is  doubtless  good  ground  for 
the  suggestion  of  a  learned  writer  of  the  last  century, 
that  it  soon  suffered  deterioration,  and  that  "  the  first 
gradation  of  the  Gregorian  music  towards  its  decline, 
was  occasioned  by  transferring  it  from  verse  to 
prose ;  in  consequence  of  which  that  strict  and  invio- 
lable regard  to  measured  sounds,  so  conspicuous  in 
ancient  music,  and  so  effectually  preserved  by  the 
aptitude  of  measured  notes  to  measured  syllables, 
was  lost."t 

A  more  rapid  stage  of  declension,  however,  is 
observable  in  the  corrupt  pronunciation  of  the  Latin 
language  by  the  Germans,  Gauls,  and  Britons.  In 
their  vernacular  tongues,  they  observed  no  such  clear 
distinction  of  long  and  short  syllables  as  was  made 
by  the  rules  of  Latin  prosody  and  the  principles  of 
Greek  and  Roman  music.  When,  therefore,  the 
Cantus  Gregorianus,  applied  to  Latin  prose,  was  in- 
troduced among  them,  it  could  not  be  at  once  sung 
by  them  in  proper  time,  according  to  the  due  propor- 


arise  from  the  arithmetical,  and  the  Gregorian,  which  he  calls  Plagal, 
from  the  harmonical  division  of  the  diapason.  Then,  immediately, 
on  p.  351,  he  speaks  of  the  Authentics  as  "  being  divided  in  harmoni- 
cal and  the  Plagals  in  arithmetical  proportion." 

It  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  at,  that  hasty  writers,  picking 
up  scraps  at  second  hand,  on  a  subject  treated  so  carelessly  by  histo- 
rians, often  commit  egregious  mistakes. 

*  Du  Cange.  t  Encycl.  Britann.,  Art.  Mus. 


114  ROMAN     CANTUS. 

tions  of  the  different  notes  for  the  long  and  short 
syllables.  Being  naturally  inclined,  as  Englishmen 
still  are,  to  reduce  all  syllables  in  Latin  to  the  same 
length,  distinguishing  the  accented  or  emphatic  ones 
by  stress  of  voice  only,  without  prolongation,  their 
singing  of  the  cantus  of  Gregory  resembled,  as 
Johannes  Diaconus  said,  "  the  noise  of  wagons  jolt- 
ing down  steps  and  rumbling  confusedly."*  The 
immediate  consequence  of  this  difficulty  seems  to 
have  been,  that  on  the  one  hand  the  teachers  of  the 
Cantus  Romanus  altered  their  music  for  the  worse 
by  making  all  the  notes  equal,  but  long,  and  thus 
perverted  to  the  utmost  the  Latin  language,  which 
was  almost  identified  with  it;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  native  teachers  of  music  among  the  Britons, 
Gauls,  and  Germans,  partially  resisting  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Cantus  Romanus  among  them,  intermixed 
with  it  strains  of  their  own  composition.  And  the 
ultimate  result  of  such  a  state  of  things  was  the  loss, 
to  a  certain  extent,  of  that  means  of  progress  in  mu- 
sical science  and  art,  which  the  Christians  of  the 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries  possessed  and  cherished 
in  the  state  of  Latin  literature  existing  at  that  period, 
and  the  hindrance,  for  a  long  season,  of  that  progress 
of  good  taste  in  sacred  music  which  characterized 
the  age  of  Augustine  and  Prudentius. 

The  important  bearing  of  these  observations  upon 
the  origin  of  that  peculiar  species  of  modern  music, 
which  is  presented  in  the  English  chant,  with  its 
recited  part  of  unmeasured  syllables,  and  its  cadence 

*  Bona  De  Div.  Psalm,  c  xvii.  §4. 


ENGLISH     CHANT.  115 

of  three  or  five  measured  notes,  applied  for  the  most 
part,  but  not  uniformly,  to  as  many  syllables,  is  too 
obvious  to  require  elucidation.  And  their  equally 
important  bearing  upon  the  claims  of  metrical  psalms 
and  hymns  in  English  rhyme  may  be  summed  up 
in  few  words. 

In  view,  then,  of  the  good  taste  in  literature, 
which  was  characteristic  of  the  most  devoted  Chris- 
tians in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  while  as  yet 
literature  and  music  were  very  intimately  connected, 
and  with  a  due  appreciation  of  the  efforts  of  Gregory 
for  the  advancement  of  music,  and  especially  for  the 
improvement  of  musical  notation,  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, it  is  safe  to  pronounce  the  exclusive  adoption 
of  the  Gregorian  cantus,  in  a  deteriorated  form,  by 
the  Roman  Church,  at  a  subsequent  period,  one  of 
the  evil  accidents,  so  to  speak,  which  befell  Chris- 
tianity between  the  fifth  and  twelfth  centuries.  And 
without  any  farther  consideration  here  of  the  com- 
parative merits  of  metrical  hymns  of  classical  Latin, 
and  mediaeval  hymns  of  Latin  rhyme,  utterly  sub- 
versive of  the  principles  of  number  and  rhythm  ob- 
served by  such  Christian  poets  as  Ambrose  and  Pru- 
dentius,  it  is  obvious  to  remark,  that  psalms  and 
hymns  in  English  metre  and  rhyme  afford,  aside 
from  the  elaborate  music  of  the  anthem,  the  only 
basis  for  metrical  music,  of  perfect  rhythm,  to  be  sung 
in  the  English  language,  by  a  large  congregation, 
or  a  full  choir.  They  present,  in  truth,  the  legiti- 
mate product  of  a  revived  taste,  founded  in  those 
permanent  principles  of  music,  which  were  preserved 
by  the  spirit  of  Christianity  in  its  sacred  services  and 


116  SYRIAN     MUSIC. 

singing  schools,  even  under  the  imperfect  form  of 
the  Cantus  Ecclesiasticus,  amid  continual  dangers 
sometimes  threatening  annihilation  to  the  very  name 
of  music ;  a  truly  refined  taste,  which  was  often  sub- 
limely displayed  in  the  enthusiastic  singing  of  psalms 
by  immense  congregations  in  the  Church  of  England, 
at  the  period  of  the  Reformation.*  And  the  expul- 
sion of  metrical  psalms  and  hymns  in  rhyme  from 
public  worship  in  the  English  language  would  be 
not  less  unreasonable  than  the  expulsion  of  printed 
Prayer  Books  and  Bibles  from  churches ;  such  metri- 
cal psalms  and  hymns  being  as  truly  a  natural, 
legitimate  result  of  the  combined  cultivation  of  the 
English  tongue  and  modern  music,  as  the  art  of 
printing  is  of  the  advancement  of  mankind.  Their 
importance  among  the  exercises  of  public  worship 
in  the  English  language  may  be  well  illustrated  far- 
ther by  an  appropriate  reference  to  the  principle  on 
which  Ephraem  the  Syrian,  in  the  fourth  century, 
wrote  many  hymns  and  odes.  He  did  it,  because 
"  the  Syrians  were  pleased  with  elegance  of  diction 
and  beauty  of  modulation."!  And  while,  according 
to  Jerome,  his  writings,  translated  into  Greek  with- 
out much  loss  of  their  native  beauty,  were  recited 
publicly  in  some  churches,  after  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures,  his  hymns,  written  in  Syriac  verses  of 
seven  syllables,  and  very  elegant,  in  the  estimation 
of  men  skilled  in  that  language,  %  were  sung  for 
many  ages  by  the  Maronite  Christians,  in  their  pub- 


*  Jewel's  Letters  to  Martyr.  t  Cave,  Hist.  Lir. 

X  Bona.  Rer.  Lit.,  L.  I.,  c.  9. 


METEICAL     PSALMODY.  117 

lie  worship.  If,  therefore,  any,  on  the  ground  of  lite- 
rary taste,  are  ever  inclined  to  object  to  metrical 
psalms  and  hymns  in  English  rhyme,  superior  as 
they  are  to  the  jingling  proses  and  other  rhyming 
hymns  of  mediaeval  Latin,  yet  the  delight  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  in  elegance  of  diction  and  beauty 
of  modulation,  presents  an  argument  which  is  not  to 
be  despised  or  trifled  with,  in  favor  of  the  diligent  cul- 
tivation of  that  species  of  sacred  music,  which  is  best 
denned  by  the  significant  phrase,  the  metrical  tune. 

In  exemplification  of  the  proper  style  of  metrical 
tunes  for  the  ordinary  measures  of  English  poetry, 
generally  called  long  and  common  metre,  and  "  sev- 
ens," no  tune  can  stand  before  Old  Hundredth. 
This  is  a  tune  which,  in  the  perfectness  of  its  me- 
lody, its  capability  of  admitting  a  great  variety  of 
full  harmony,  and  its  general  attractiveness  in  all 
respects,  will  probably  long  remain  without  a  suc- 
cessful rival.  But  with  this  for  a  standard  and 
model,  and  with  the  best  of  German  chorals  and  a 
corresponding  class  of  English  tunes  in  view,  a  col- 
lection of  substantial  tunes  of  similar  character  might 
be  prepared,  worthy  to  supersede  almost  all  others 
ever  yet  published  in  this  country,  for  hymns  and 
psalms  of  the  metres  just  named.  And  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  good  collection  of  such  tunes,  with  a 
choice  supply  of  others  in  a  slightly  florid  style  for 
some  psalms  and  hymns  of  those  metres,  and  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  neat,  chaste,  and  graceful  tunes 
for  other  metres  more  ornate,  were  a  work  worthy 
the  hand  and  genius  of  a  master.  Such  a  collection 
of  metrical  tunes,  in  which  nothing  should  find  place 


118  METRICAL     TUNES. 

that  would  not  endure  the  strictest  criticism,  and 
take  rank  among  standards  and  models  of  musical 
composition,  would  be  an  invaluable  treasure  to 
choirs  of  singers,  whose  taste  is  continually  subjected 
to  fearful  risk  of  utter  corruption  by  the  rapid  multi- 
plication of  volumes  of  new  tunes.  This  has  become 
with  many,  like  the  preparation  of  new  text-books 
for  schools,  a  mere  craft  or  means  of  making  gain. 
And  there  is,  in  truth,  not  less  difference  between  the 
generality  of  tunes  in  many  of  the  new  collections  an- 
nually put  forth,  and  tunes  which  really  deserve  the 
name  of  sacred  music,  than  between  loose  and  feeble 
paragraphs  hastily  written  for  a  daily  newspaper, 
and  the  compact,  polished,  symmetrical,  and  elegant 
sentences  of  Blair  and  Addison  and  Johnson  and 
Burke.  It  can  hardly  be  deemed  a  wonder,  there- 
fore, if  ears  which  are  often  greeted  with  choice 
strains  of  sublime  harmony,  in  majestic  voluntaries 
upon  a  good  organ,  or  in  the  "joyful  noise"  of  a 
large  congregation,  singing  with  one  accord  some 
standard  chant  that  has  stood  the  test  of  time,  be 
averse  to  such  slender,  meagre  music,  as  that  of  a 
vast  majority  of  tunes,  in  many  new  collections  now 
popular.  But  this  plain  view  of  the  character  of 
such  inferior  collections  ought,  at  least,  to  shield 
metrical  tunes  of  an  entirely  different  description 
from  the  sweeping  censure  and  hasty  reprobation  to 
which  they  have  been  rendered  liable  by  the  errors 
and  incompetency  of  careless  and  conceited  com- 
posers. 

That  there  are  metrical  tunes  already  published, 
which  are  at  once  adapted  to  most  of  the  varieties 


DEFECTIVE     MUSIC.  119 

of  metre,  ever  used  for  psalms  and  hymns  in  the 
English  tongue,  and  yet  worthy,  for  their  solemn 
dignity  and  chaste  beauty,  of  a  place  in  the  public 
worship  of  the  church,  it  were  rash  in  any  to  deny. 
And  even  if  ordinary  religious  services,  in  all  parishes, 
could  be  adorned,  as  in  the  cathedrals  of  England, 
with  the  perfect  music  of  complete  anthems,  it  might 
be  safely  pronounced  unwise  in  the  extreme,  to  dis- 
courage the  cultivation  of  metrical  psalmody,  which 
partakes  of  all  the  attributes  of  perfect  music  in  a 
lower  degree  ;  or  to  substitute  for  it,  in  its  accus- 
tomed place,  chants  in  English  prose.  These,  though 
excellent  for  their  place  and  purpose,  are,  after  all, 
quite  imperfect  music ;  being  entirely  destitute  of 
musical  rhythm,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term ;  as 
applied  to  proportional  or  corresponding  clauses  of 
musical  strains,  limited  and  divided  throughout  by 
definite  measures  of  time.  And  the  abandonment 
of  metrical  psalmody  in  the  public  worship  of  the 
church,  where  the  English  language  is  used,  would 
inevitably  tend  to  diminish  the  superiority,  which 
sacred  music,  happily,  as  yet  retains  over  secular,  in 
all  respects. 

These  remarks,  however,  in  commendation  of 
metrical  psalmody,  render  necessary  a  brief  state- 
ment of  some  glaring  faults,  in  many  of  the  contri- 
butions, with  which  this  department  is  filled  to  over- 
flowing, by  a  great  multitude  of  composers  ;  among 
whom  some  of  a  low  measure  of  ability  and  taste 
are,  unhappily,  very  popular. 

Many  tunes,  which  are  widely  adopted  by  choirs, 
and  admired  by  congregations,  unaccustomed  to  an 


120  DRAMATIC     TUNES. 

organ,  are  really  unworthy  of  the  attention  of  a  good 
organist ;  on  account  of  their  imperfect  structure, 
which  is  ill  adapted  to  secure,  or  to  admit,  a  tasteful 
style  of  performance.  Equally  unfit  for  the  hand 
of  a  good  organist,  and  for  any  purpose  of  psalmody, 
are  most  of  those  very  popular  tunes,  which  present, 
in  a  piece  of  music  that  is  comprised  within  the 
limits  of  a  stanza  of  four,  six,  or  eight  lines,  a  solo, 
or  a  duett,  for  one  or  two  lines,  to  be  used  alike  in  all 
the  stanzas  of  a  psalm  or  hymn.  Nor  less  worthy 
of  censure  are  the  puerile  attempts  of  many  com- 
posers to  produce  a  dramatic  effect,  by  alternation  of 
soft  and  loud  strains,  in  tunes  of  such  limited  extent. 
All  such  attempts  to  ingraft  upon  metrical  tunes  the 
embellishments  of  the  anthem,  are  incompatible  with 
good  taste.  And  with  such  faults  may  be  classed 
the  tame  conceit  of  changing  simple  chants  into 
metrical  tunes,  by  dividing  the  indefinite  note  of 
recitation  into  three  or  four  shorter  notes,  arbitrarily 
measured  :  and  the  corresponding  novelty  of  adapt- 
ing psalms  and  hymns  of  certain  metres  to  the  un- 
altered music  of  simple  chants  ;  to  be  sung  after  the 
maimer  of  a  chant,  with  its  alternation  of  recited 
syllables,  and  brief  melodies.  Both  of  these  fancies 
are  inconsistent  alike  with  the  nature  of  genuine 
melody,  and  the  genius  of  English  poetry. 

This  remark,  however,  is  hardly  applicable  to 
verses  in  short  and  common  metre.  When  applied 
to  such  verses,  the  music  of  a  regular  English  chant 
is  not  materially  different  from  a  metrical  tune. 
The  second  and  fourth  lines  have  but  one  syllable 
in  the  recited  part.     The  cadence  or  melody  of  the 


CHANTS     IN     VERSE.  121 

first  line,  therefore,  virtually  extends  through  the 
whole  of  the  second  line,  and  includes  six  bars  of 
measured  music,  applied  to  a  line  and  a  half  of  poet- 
ry. In  the  same  manner  the  cadence  or  melody  of 
the  third  line  extends  through  and  includes  the  fourth. 
Yet  verses  of  these  metres  are  pronounced  by  a  late 
writer  especially  applicable  to  the  music  of  a  chant ; 
perhaps  without  a  clear  perception  of  the  fact,  that 
they  really  destroy  its  title  to  the  name  of  a  chant. 
The  truth  is,  that  when  applied  to  such  music  they 
virtually  make  it  at  once  a  metrical  tune,  containing 
at  least  as  many  consecutive  bars  or  measures  in 
each  half,  as  does  any  common  tune  for  the  same 
metre.  In  this  view  of  the  matter,  however,  the 
chief  reason  given  for  such  use  of  psalms  and  hymns 
in  verse  falls  to  the  ground.  It  is  difficult  to  see 
how  any  more  verses  of  a  psalm  or  hymn  of  short 
or  common  metre  could  be  sung  within  a  given  time 
to  the  music  of  a  regular  English  chant,  than  to  that 
of  any  good  metrical  tune.  And  upon  the  whole, 
this  novelty  of  chanting  psalms  and  hymns  of  such 
metres  is  no  less  a  fiction  of  the  fancy  than  the  idea 
of  identifying  the  ancient  Gregorian  cantus,  in  which 
each  syllable  was  measured  by  the  times  of  prosody, 
or  by  equal  notes,  with  the  English  chant,  in  which 
but  a  small  part  of  the  syllables  are  subjected  to  any 
measure  of  time. 

The  classes  of  metre  which,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  same  writer,  rank  next  to  short  and  common 
metre  in  fitness  for  the  music  of  a  chant,  are  those 
which  are  sometimes  marked  II.  4,  and  III.  1,  and 
sometimes  "  Hallelujah  Metre  "  and  "  Sevens."     But 


122  GOOD     TUNES. 

these,  when  applied  to  the  music  of  a  chant,  require 
a  further  departure  from  the  regular  rhythmical 
movement  of  a  metrical  tune.  And  as  to  verses  of 
any  other  peculiar  metre,  they  need  only  be  tried  to 
the  music  of  a  chant,  to  prove  that  in  metrical 
psalmody,  the  dictates  of  good  taste  require,  in  gen- 
eral, a  strict  conformity  of  the  musical  movement  to 
the  poetical  rhythm  and  accent. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  all  of  the  faults 
here  censured  are  manifest  deviations  from  the  true 
standard  of  style,  established  by  the  comparison  of 
music  with  other  liberal  and  fine  arts,  and  by  the 
consideration  of  its  natural  and  intimate  connection 
with  poetry.  But  it  is  important  to  illustrate  more 
particularly  some  of  the  leading  principles  of  good 
taste,  to  be  observed  by  composers  and  choristers  in 
the  preparation  and  adaptation  of  metrical  tunes. 

Doubtless  the  most  appropriate  movement  for  the 
ordinary  iambic  metres  of  English  psalmody  is  that 
of  the  plain  choral^  with  its  notes  of  equal  length, 
applied  syllabically,  and  distinguished  only  by  ac- 
cent or  emphasis  upon  the  alternate  syllables.  Eng- 
lish prosody  has,  indeed,  the  same  definition  of  feet, 
as  consisting  of  short  and  long  syllables,  which  was 
employed  by  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Latins.  But  in 
point  of  fact  the  English  language  does  not  admit  of 
such  a  distinction  between  short  and  long  syllables, 
of  one  and  two  times,  as  was  indicated  by  the  defini- 
tions of  Latin  and  Greek  prosody.  Most  of  the  syl- 
lables which  are  sometimes  called  long  in  English 
poetry,  are  actually  distinguished  from  those  which 
are  called  short,  only  by  emphasis  or  stress  of  voice. 


FLORID     CHORALS.  123 

And  since  this  more  limited  distinction  of  syllables 
is  incident  to  the  very  nature  of  English  metre,  and 
constitutes  the  very  genius  of  English  poetry,  so  far 
as  mere  language  is  concerned,  it  is  the  dictate  of 
good  taste  to  depend  rather  upon  stress  of  voice,  than 
upon  a  prolongation  of  sound,  to  secure  due  distinc- 
tion of  emphatic  syllables,  in  the  application  of  mu- 
sic to  such  poetry.  Nevertheless,  there  are  many 
instances,  in  which  a  far  better  effect  may  be  given 
to  psalms  and  hymns  in  English  iambics,  by  adapt- 
ing them  to  tunes  in  triple  time,  and  prolonging  the 
emphatic  syllable  of  each  foot  through  a  note  of  two 
times,  or  its  equivalent  in  two  or  three  notes,  than  by 
confining  all  such  metres  to  plain  chorals  of  equal 
notes.  Again  some  psalms  and  hymns  are  best  suited 
with  music  by  a  certain  class  of  English  tunes, 
which  might,  without  impropriety,  be  styled  florid 
chorals ;  such,  for  example,  as  the  justly  popular 
tune,  Warwick.  These  tunes,  though  easily  reduced 
to  plain  chorals,  by  the  leading  chords  of  their  coun- 
terpoint, are  embellished,  chiefly  in  the  air,  with  as 
much  of  ornament,  in  the  form  of  appogiaturas  or 
passing  notes,  as  is  consistent  with  simplicity  and 
good  taste,  in  metrical  tunes  for  common  iambic  and 
trochaic  verse.  Any  prolongation  and  variation  of 
syllables  by  divisions,  or  slurs,  to  a  greater  extent 
than  is  common  in  these  tunes,  and  the  other  class, 
in  triple  time,  just  before  described,  is,  in  general,  en- 
tirely incompatible  with  the  design  of  tunes  prepared 
for  general  use.  And  on  the  other  hand,  all  hud- 
dling of  five  or  six  syllables  from  one  part  of  a  line 
or  stanza  of  iambics,  into  the  same  space  of  time 


124  ORNATE     TUNES. 

which  is  devoted  to  one  or  two  syllables  in  another 
part  of  the  same  line  or  stanza,  is  an  utter  perversion 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  metrical  psalmody, 
in  the  English,  as  well  as  in  any  other  language ; 
especially  of  the  grand  principle  that  metre  depends 
upon  a  certain  settled  proportion  or  relation  between 
connected  syllables,  and  a  certain  continuance  of 
their  connection  or  succession  in  a  regular  series.  It 
is  the  same  fault  which  appears  in  any  attempt  to 
apply  to  stanzas  of  English  verse  the  irregular  move- 
ment of  an  English  chant.  With  an  appearance  of 
increased  attention  to  the  combined  claims  of  pro- 
portional rhythm  in  modern  music,  and  accentual 
rhythm  in  modern  languages,  it  actually  injures  the 
musical  rhythm  of  the  tunes  in  which  it  finds  place, 
and  utterly  sets  at  nought  the  rhythm  of  the  poetry 
to  which  those  tunes  are  applied.  And  it  may  be 
safely  pronounced,  under  all  circumstances,  a  radical 
error,  thus  to  introduce  in  brief  phrases  of  music  such 
variations  of  movement  as  are  peculiarly  appropriate 
to  complete  anthems  and  other  elaborate  composi- 
tions ;  in  which  the  utterance  of  words  in  their  pro- 
per order  is  quite  subordinate  to  a  scientific  and 
skilful  arrangement  of  notes ;  and  the  effect  of  the 
music  mainly  dependent  upon  a  perfect  intonation 
and  combination  of  its  various  sounds,  vocal  and 
instrumental. 

The  general  principles  thus  illustrated  may  be 
easily  applied  to  tunes  for  peculiar  metres  of  every 
class.  Such  metres  in  the  English  language  afford 
ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  skill  in  producing 
happy  combinations  of  musical  and  poetical  rhythm. 


GOOD     HYMNS.  125 

And  some  of  the  most  popular,  like  that  of  the  beau- 
tiful hymn,  "  I  would  not  live  alway,"  furnish  oppor- 
tunity for  such  a  combination  of  genius,  science,  and 
taste,  as  has  never  yet  been  bestowed  upon  this  de- 
partment of  sacred  music  ;  and  for  efforts  of  mas- 
ters in  composition,  which  could  not  fail  to  pro- 
duce a  salutary  effect  upon  writers  of  lyrical  poetry 
in  the  English  language. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DUE    PERFORMANCE    OF    SACRED    MUSIC. 

Another  important  topic  remains  to  be  discussed: 
namely,  the  due  performance  of  the  music  of  the 
church.  But  it  may  be  disposed  of  with  a  brief  ar- 
gument, in  connection  with  the  view  already  taken 
of  the  past  progress  and  the  proper  style  of  sacred 
music. 

If  it  were  important  to  conform  the  music  of  the 
church  at  the  present  day  to  that  of  primitive  times, 
the  due  performance  of  such  music  would  aflord  much 
scope  for  variety  and  skill  in  the  practice  of  this  excel- 
lent art.  It  appears,  for  instance,  from  the  writings 
of  Philo  and  Eusebius,  as  already  cited  under  former 
heads,  that  the  most  ancient  and  general  kind  of  mu- 
sic used  in  Christian  worship,  consisted,  for  the  most 
part,  of  a  solo,  performed  by  one  person  alone,  singing 
and  sometimes  playing  in  an  excellent  style  the 
greater  part  of  the  verses  or  metres ;  the  whole  congre- 
gation only  catching  up  the  concluding  notes  of  each 
strain,  and  resounding  them  aloud  in  full  chorus.  It 
appears  farther  from  the  explicit  language  of  Augus- 


ANCIENT     PRACTICE.  127 

tine,  that  the  plainest  music  ever  used  in  any  part 
of  the  ancient  church,  that  adopted  by  Athanasius 
at  Alexandria,  was  performed  after  the  manner  of  a 
solo  ;  while  the  reader  of  the  psalm  sounded  it  with 
so  little  variation  of  tone,  that  it  was  nearer  to  pro- 
nouncing or  scanning  than  to  singing.  Again,  it  is 
equally  evident,  from  the  testimony  of  Augustine,  in 
other  places,  as  well  as  from  that  of  Ambrose  and 
Chrysostom,  that  sometimes  many  voices,  of  the 
people  assembled  in  promiscuous  congregations,  were 
united  in  singing  the  psalms  and  hymns  of  public 
worship.  And  yet,  again,  it  would  seem  from  the 
writings  of  Eusebius,  Socrates  and  Basil,  as  well  as 
from  the  others  just  referred  to,  that,  during  the  first 
five  centuries  of  the  Christian  church,  select  choirs 
of  professed  musicians  were  quite  generally  relied 
upon  for  the  due  performance  of  sacred  music.  Nor 
is  it  clear,  that  any  great  change  in  this  respect  was 
accomplished  before  the  days  of  Guido,  who  flou- 
rished in  the  eleventh  century.  Previously  to  that 
time,  according  to  his  own  assertion,  corroborated  to 
some  extent  by  the  testimony  of  others,  no  one  could 
learn  to  sing  the  Gregorian  cantus,  then  the  esta- 
blished music  of  the  Roman  church,  without  several 
years  of  study.  And  it  is  affirmed  by  writers  who 
have  investigated  the  musical  systems  of  the  ancient 
Greeks,  from  which  the  Gregorian  music  seems  to 
have  been  derived,*  that  while  they  employed  no 
less  than  sixteen  hundred  and  twenty  signs  for  the 
notation  of  musical  sounds  and  their  relations,!  it 

*  Burney.     Chr.  Remembr.,  No.  LXVL,  p.  406.         t  Burney. 


128  MODERN     ADVANTAGES. 

required  several  years  of  hard  study  and  diligent 
practice  to  learn  their  musical  characters,  and  play 
a  tolerable  accompaniment  on  the  lyre.* 

But  in  view  of  these  facts  it  is  very  manifest,  that 
no  rule  or  principle  with  regard  to  the  due  perform- 
ance of  sacred  music  at  the  present  day  can  be  de- 
rived from  the  practice  of  the  primitive  church,  or  of 
any  ancient  Christians,  Modern  discoveries  in  the 
science  of  music,  and  improvements  in  the  notation 
and  vocal  expression  of  musical  sounds,  have  done 
more,  by  far,  to  render  the  art  of  singing  generally 
practicable,  than  the  invention  of  printing  has  done 
towards  enabling  all  persons  to  read  their  own  lan- 
guage. Now,  the  reading  of  music  by  its  notes  and 
signs  requires  only  the  knowledge  of  a  few  charac- 
ters, not  more  numerous  than  the  letters  of  the  Eng- 
lish language  and  its  marks  of  punctuation.  Nor  is 
it  requisite,  as  in  ancient  times,  that  to  be  a  good 
singer,  one  should  be  a  good  grammarian,  and  tho- 
roughly conversant  with  all  the  principles  and  rules 
of  prosody,  and  the  established  usage  or  authority  of 
poets,  with  regard  to  every  word.  On  the  contrary, 
there  is  no  reason  whatever,  why  any  person,  man, 
woman,  or  child,  who  is  able  to  read,  and  endowed 
with  an  ear  and  voice  to  sing  the  most  simple  melody 
by  rote,  should  not  also  be  qualified  to  sing  by 
note  at  sight,  and  with  such  words  as  may  be  pro- 
posed for  the  time,  any  music  except  elaborate  an- 
thems, that  is  proper  to  be  used  in  the  public  wor- 
ship of,  the  church.     There  is  nothing  in  the  nature 

*  Lond.  Encycl. 


PROFESSIONAL     SINGERS.  129 

of  vocal  music,  in  the  present  state  of  this  art,  to 
prevent  or  hinder  the  due  performance  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  sublime  chants,  and  the  most  graceful 
and  elegant  metrical  tunes,  by  the  united  voices  of 
all  persons  who  can  imitate  a  single  tone  of  any  of 
their  fellow-creatures,  or  of  any  musical  instrument. 
And  yet  there  is,  in  general,  such  ignorance  of  the 
rudiments  of  vocal  music  among  all  classes  in  this 
country,  not  excepting  professed  musicians,  that  one 
might  justly  suppose  most  persons  to  have  seriously 
adopted  the  objection  which  was  urged  against 
printed  tunes,  when  one  of  our  zealous  forefathers, 
upon  the  publication  of  the  first  book  of  sacred  mu- 
sic ever  used  in  New  England,  maintained  strenu- 
ously that  Christians  ought  not  to  sing  from  a  book. 
One  deplorable  result  of  this  state  of  things  is,  that 
in  many  instances  those  portions  of  sacred  music, 
which,  under  the  circumstances  of  modern  Christians, 
amid  the  improvements  of  modern  times,  should  by 
all  means  be  performed  by  all  who  have  an  ear  and 
voice  to  sing  any  thing,  are  appropriated  as  quar- 
tettes to  four  singers.  And  these  are  frequently  so 
far  from  being  really  qualified  to  perform  with  pro- 
priety any  pieces  well  adapted  to  four  voices,  that 
they  are  unable  to  sing  at  any  time,  and  much  more 
unable  to  learn,  the  simplest  strain  of  written  or 
printed  music,  without  the  help  of  an  instrument. 
The  proportion  of  professional  singers,  including 
choristers  and  leaders  of  parts,  who  thus  sing  en- 
tirely by  rote,  would  amaze  the  uninitiated,  who  are 
accustomed  to  submit  but  too  patiently  and  tamely 
to  conceited  exclusiveness ;  while  through  the  con- 


130  SELECT     CHOIRS. 

trivance  of  a  few  amateurs,  who  are  far  from  being 
connoisseurs,  it  debars  from  their  proper  share  in  the 
public  worship  of  the  house  of  God  many  whole  con- 
gregations, including  scores  of  excellent  voices,  often 
well  trained,  and  in  the  constant,  daily  practice  of 
good  music.  Most  surely,  "  these  things  ought  not 
so  to  be." 

It  is,  however,  no  part  of  the  object  of  these  re- 
marks to  maintain  that  all  music  performed  in  pub- 
lic worship  should  be  what  is  commonly  called  "con- 
gregational singing."  On  the  contrary,  it  were  bet- 
ter to  lay  down  the  general  principle,  that  wherever 
a  good  substantial  choir  of  persons  able  to  read  mu- 
sic at  sight,  and  thus  to  sing  by  note,  can  be  had,  no 
other  persons  ought  to  sing  in  public  worship,  until 
they  are  qualified  to  join  such  a  choir.  Then, 
whether  they  actually  join  it  or  not,  they  will  never 
interrupt,  but  always  improve  its  music ;  in  all  such 
tunes  as  are  not  justly  appropriated  and  confined  to 
choirs.  Anthems  of  elaborate  design  and  structure, 
requiring,  on  account  of  their  complicated  move- 
ments of  the  several  parts,  much  practice  and  repeat- 
ed rehearsals  of  skilful  singers,  should,  of  course,  be 
always  left  to  such.  And  there  may  be  occasionally 
metrical  tunes,  adapted  to  hymns  of  peculiar  metres, 
in  the  performance  of  which  no  person  of  refined 
taste,  though  familiar  with  every  strain  and  note, 
would  presume  to  join,  without  previous  practice  in 
connection  with  the  choir.  But  such  tunes  should 
not  be  often  introduced,  in  the  accustomed  place  of 
metrical  psalms  and  hymns.  These,  in  general,  ought 
to  be  sung  by  the  united  voices  of  all  who  can  con- 


SINGING     BY     NOTE.  131 

tribute  at  all  to  swell  the  pure,  full  harmony  of  a 
great  congregation,  pouring  forth  songs  of  praise  with 
one  consent  before  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth.  And 
few  persons  indeed,  who  are  capable  of  distinguish- 
ing one  tune  from  another,  can  ever  have  any  good 
excuse  for  neglecting  to  join  in  the  plainest  of  those 
tunes  which  are  generally  applied  to  psalms  and 
hymns  in  rhyme. 

From  the  time  when  Guido  professed  to  teach 
boys  to  sing  by  note,  within  the  space  of  one  month.* 
and  yet  complained  of  some  "  miserable  disciples  of 
singers,  who,  though  they  should  practise  every  day 
for  one  hundred  years,  would  never  be  able  to  sing 
even  one  little  antiphon  themselves,  nor  without  the 
help  of  a  master,"  the  space  of  one  month  has  doubt- 
less been  sufficient  to  enable  any  intelligent  child 
having  a  fair  ear  for  music,  to  learn  to  sing  by  note 
independently,  even  according  to  the  old  system  of 
solmization  which  was  in  vogue  in  this  country  some 
twenty-five  years  ago.  In  the  mean  time  a  decided 
and  unquestionable  improvement  has*been  made 
upon  that  system  by  giving  to  each  note  in  the  dia- 
tonic scale  a  specific  name,  instead  of  using  one  syl- 
lable for  two  notes  in  three  instances.  And  if  that 
were  not  enough  to  render  the  reading  of  notes,  and 
singing  at  sight  sufficiently  easy  for  all,  many  re- 
spectable teachers  in  this  country  have  recently 
adopted  a  methodt  which  is  still  more  simple  in  some 

*  Hawkins,  I.,  444. 

t  This  method,  however,  is  not  really  a  novelty.  And  what  is 
here  said  of  various  methods  of  solmization  or  singing  by  note,  has 
no  reference  to  the  modern  system  of  musical  notation,  or  the  writing 


132  SINGING     AT     SIGHT. 

respects,  and  especially  adapted  to  such  pupils  as 
have  peculiar  need  of  the  important  aid  of  associa- 
tion of  ideas  ;  a  system,  which  entirely  dispenses 
with  the  continual  transposition  of  the  names  of  all 
the  notes  in  the  diatonic  scale. 

It  is  not  necessary,  therefore,  to  approve  or  reject 
the  remark  of  Doctor  Burney,  that  "  perhaps  what 
Pope  says  of  different  forms  of  government  may  be 
more  justly  applied  to  different  methods  of  singing ; 
"Whatever  is  best  administered  is  best."*  Under 
that  system  which  was  confessedly  the  most  defec- 
tive of  the  three  here  spoken  of,  an  intelligent  and 
diligent  child  of  ten  years,  endowed  with  a  good  ear, 
could  by  moderate  application,  for  a  few  days,  learn 
to  sing  independently,  by  note,  and  at  sight,  any 
common  metrical  tune  that  might  be  truly  called 
good  music.  And  if  under  such  circumstances,  any 
due  degree  of  attention  to  this  matter  could  be 
awakened  among  clergymen,  their  general  acquaint- 
ance with  literature,  their  knowledge  of  the  princi- 
• 

of  notes.  Respecting  this  the  remark  of  Sir  John  Hawkins  is  more 
applicable  at  present  than  it  was  in  the  last  century.  Speaking  of 
certain  innovations  then  proposed,  he  says,  Vol.  IV.  p.  225:  "After 
all,  the  arguments  urged  in  favor  of  these  several  innovations  are  none 
of  them  of  weight  sufficient  to  justify  them,  seeing  that  with  all  the 
difficulties  imputed  to  it,  the  modern  system  of  notation  is  a  language 
that  we  find  by  experience, 

'  Girls  may  read,  and  boys  may  understand.' 

But  allowing  it  to  be  otherwise,  it  might  admit  of  a  question  what 
would  be  gained  by  an  innovation  that  would  render  the  compositions 
of  all  former  musicians  as  generally  unintelligible  as  is  at  this  day  a 
Saxon  manuscript." 
*  IL,  106. 


THE     GEE  AT     WANT.  133 

pies  of  prosody,  and  their  taste  and  judgment,  with 
regard  to  poetical  compositions,  might  be  relied  on 
for  speedy  and  substantial  improvement  of  the  char- 
acter and  standard  of  sacred  music  in  many  respects. 
Then  would  their  opinions  and  suggestions,  sustain- 
ed and  enforced  by  practical  knowledge  and  personal 
experience,  be  respected  and  gladly  received  by  cho- 
risters skilled  in  their  art,  and  by  organists  profoundly 
versed  in  the  science  of  music.  And  through  the 
combined  efforts  of  the  three  classes,  heartily  second- 
ed by  all  who  could  in  any  way  contribute  to  secure 
the  due  performance  of  sacred  music,  this  important 
means  of  promoting  and  extending  the  salutary  in- 
fluence of  Chiistianity  would  soon  be  rendered  far 
more  efficacious  that  it  has  ever  yet  been  in  this 
country.  The  real  superiority  of  the  music  of  the 
church  to  all  other,  even  under  the  modern  system 
which  has  done  so  much  to  raise  secular  music  to 
its  present  position  in  a  vastly  improved  state,  would 
be  conclusively  manifest,  if  not  universally  acknow- 
ledged. And  the  holy  songs  of  the  church  on  earth 
would  be  much  often er  than  they  are  at  present,  a 
fitting  type  in  all  respects  of  the  heavenly  harmony 
of  those  who  shall  sing  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
Lamb,  for  ever  and  ever,  before  the  throne  of  the 
Majesty  on  high. 


CONCLUSION. 


It  has  been  a  leading  object,  in  the  foregoing  view 
of  Music,  as  it  was  and  as  it  is,  to  illustrate  the 
connection  of  modern  music  with  the  progress  of 
Christian  civilization.  Incidentally,  of  course,  some 
reference  has  been  made  to  a  certain  prominent  fea- 
ture of  ancient  civilization,  in  Greece  and  Rome  ; 
namely,  the  intimate  connection  of  ancient  music 
with  literature.  A  few  words,  therefore,  respecting 
the  high  claims  of  music  upon  literary  men,  at  the 
present  day,  will  form  a  fitting  conclusion  of  this 
argument. 

It  is  not  merely  as  a  science  intimately  con- 
nected with  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy, 
that  music  possesses  a  just  claim  upon  the  attention 
of  all  who  are  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  science 
and  the  pursuit  of  learning  in  general.  Nor  yet  is 
the  art  of  music  worthy  of  the  care  and  study  of 
literary  men,  merely  on  account  of  its  influence  as 
the  handmaid  or  companion  of  poetry  and  oratory. 
On  the  contrary,  in  the  present  state  of  these  several 
arts,  music  and  poetry,  though  mutually  subservient, 
to  a  certain  extent,  are  yet  in  a  high  degree  inde- 


MUSIC     AND     OKATORY.  135 

pendent  of  each  other  ;  and  the  connection  of  modern 
music  with  elocution,  at  least  in  the  English  tongue, 
though  often  insinuated  by  elocutionists  unskilled  in 
music,  and  implied  in  some  of  the  strangely  insigni- 
ficant technical  terms  of  their  art,  is  by  no  means 
palpable  to  practiced  singers.  But  modern  music  is, 
moreover,  in  itself,  an  interesting  and  wonderful 
science,  very  comprehensive  and  perfect.  It  is  also 
an  art,  which,  by  itself  alone,  when  preserved  in  its 
integrity,  from  all  contaminating  influence  of  demo- 
ralizing sentiments,  actions  and  associations,  is  emi- 
nently adapted  to  humanize  and  elevate  all  classes 
of  persons.  It  has  thus  an  especial  and  indisputable 
claim  upon  those  who  seek  the  improvement  of  the 
mind,  in  any  of  the  pursuits  of  literature,  science 
and  cultivated  taste. 

While,  therefore,  the  generality  of  literary  men, 
in  this  age  and  country,  may  be  justly  said  to  have 
deprived  themselves,  in  a  great  degree,  through  mere 
indolence  or  heedlessness,  of  one  of  the  most  delight- 
ful of  all  the  rational  enjoyments  provided  by  a  Be- 
neficent Creator,  they  have,  at  the  same  time,  failed 
to  exert  a  due  influence  for  the  promotion  of  an  art, 
which,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  and  even  in  a  state 
of  great  imperfection,  has  been  ranked  by  many  of 
the  wisest  and  best  of  every  age  among  the  most 
effectual  means  of  improving,  regulating,  advancing 
and  adorning  human  society.  Doubtless,  dissociated 
as  are  the  kindred  arts  of  music  and  poetry  at  the 
present  time,  they  might  be  made  largely  beneficial 
to  each  other,  by  due  attention  to  the  most  definite 
and  plain  principles  of  both,  on  the  part  of  all  who 


136  MUSIC     AND     LITERATURE. 

are  competent  to  exert  an  influence  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  either.  And  this  is  a  remark  which  is  no  less 
applicable  to  secular  music,  with  its  many  offences 
against  the  laws  of  English  verse  and  cultivated 
taste,  than  to  sacred  music  with  its  many  blemishes, 
from  faulty  versions  of  the  psalms  of  David  in  me- 
tre, and  popular  hymns,  ill-adapted  to  the  use  of 
choirs  and  the  hand  of  good  composers.  Indeed,  the 
character  of  secular  songs  at  the  present  day  is  such 
as  to  render  applicable  to  many  of  them,  for  a  gene- 
ration to  come,  the  expressive  lamentation  of  Doctor 
Burney,  concerning  those  of  former  centuries,  "  Alas  ! 
what  is  the  secular  music  which  thirty  years  have 
not  withered,  wrinkled  and  superannuated?"  So 
truly  does  music,  to  secure  its  continual  advance- 
ment, in  all  its  various  relations,  demand  the  efforts, 
not  only  of  theologians,  but  also  of  other  literary 
men ;  enough  having  appeared,  in  the  view  here 
presented  of  the  past  progress,  present  state  and 
true  standard  of  music,  to  show  that,  without  such 
efforts,  much  information  which  is  essential  to  the 
perfection  of  this  art,  must  remain  inaccessible  on 
the  one  hand  to  such  musicians  as  are  not  conversant 
with  classical  literature  and  ecclesiastical  history,  or 
on  the  other,  to  classical  scholars  unacquainted  with 
the  technical  language  of  music. 


THE      END 


